The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide
1882
25 5/16 x 31 in. (64.3 x 78.7 cm)
Claude Monet
France
(Paris, 1840 – 1926, Giverny, France)
Object Type:
Painting
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Gift of Emily Sibley Watson
Accession Number:
1939.22
This painting belongs to a series of works produced during the spring and summer of 1882, while Monet visited Pourville, a town on the Normandy coast. As he explored the beach and the rocks exposed at low tide, Monet found a startling diversity of viewpoints that enabled him to create some of his most dramatic and unexpected compositions. In all of them, Monet placed himself far out across the beach, a little to the east of Pourville. He juxtaposed the cliffs in the far distance with the fragmented forms of the rock shelves in the foreground, using unique brushstrokes to convey the movement and light of the water and clouds.
Monet’s technique gradually changed from completing paintings out of doors to one of making hundreds of concentrated studies on location. He then compiled and reworked these many sketches in his studio, where he created the final canvases.
[Label copy from Monet: Vision and Process exhibition, 2018]
Provenance
Purchased from the artist by Durand-Ruel (dealers), January 1883; Dr. Filleau, 1883; Durand-Ruel (dealers), ca. 1891; W. H. Forbes, Boston, 1893; Erwin W. Forbes; Durand-Ruel, New York (dealers), 1903; purchased from them by Mrs. James Sibley Watson, Rochester, May 20, 1905; her gift to the Gallery in 1939
Keywords
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Additional Images
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
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Article Scope: Reproduction only.
Susan Dodge Peters, ed.
Memorial Art Gallery: An Introduction to the Collection.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery in association with Hudson Hills Press, 1988.
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Memorial Art Gallery.
Gallery Notes.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995.
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Article Scope: Reproduction only.
Rochester Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester Handbook.
Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1961.
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Article Scope: Entry and reproduction.
Denys Sutton.
Treasures from Rochester: Exhibited at Wildenstein Galleries, New York, April 14-May 28, 1977: Summary Catalogue.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1977.
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Article Author: Seiberling, Grace.
Article Title: Monet's Les Rochers à Pourville, marée basse.
Article Scope: Article and reproduction.
Porticus.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery
Volume Number: 3
Issue Date: 1980.
Page Number: 40-45
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Apollo.
London, England: Apollo
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Monet & Japan.
Canberra, Australia: National Gallery of Australia, 2001.
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Article Scope: Mention.
Elizabeth Brayer.
Magnum Opus: The Story of the Memorial Art Gallery, 1913-1988.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1988.
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Stephan Koja.
Claude Monet.
Munich, New York: Prestel, 1996.
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Article Scope: Article and reproduction.
Claude Monet.
Balingen: Stadthalle Balingen, 1992.
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Article Scope: Article and reproduction.
Monet: Liège = Luik = Lüttich, Salle St. Georges, 13/03-10/05 1992.
Liège: s.n., [1992].
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Monet & Music.
SONY Music Entertaintment (Australia) Ltd.
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Article Title: Art Ambassadors.
Article Scope: Article.
MAGazine.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery
Issue Date: Autumn 2001.
Page Number: 10
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Memorial Art Gallery.
ARTiculate.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2000--.
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Article Scope: Entry.
Masterworks from University and College Art Collections.
Lawrence, Kansas: The University of Kansas Museum of Art, 1958.
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Michael Clarke
and Richard Thomson.
Monet: The Seine and The Sea 1878-1883.
Edinburgh, Scotland: National Galleries of Scotland, 2003.
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Article Scope: Catalogue Raisonné Entry.
Daniel Wildenstein.
Monet: Catalogue Raisonné.
Köln, Germany: Taschen, 1996.
Volume Number: 2
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Article Author: Thomson, Richard.
Article Title: Monet e il mare de Nettuno: Bordighera, 1884. Antibes, 1888.
Article Scope: Mention and reproduction.
Marco Goldin.
L'Oro e l'Azzurro: I Colori del Sud da Cézanne a Bonnard.
Conegliano, Italy: Linea d'Ombra Libri, 2003.
Page Number: 75
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John House.
Impressionists by the Sea.
London, England: Royal Academy of Arts, 2007.
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Article Author: Andreatta, David.
Article Title: Completing the Picture.
Article Scope: Mention and reproduction.
City Newspaper.
Rochester, NY
Issue Date: March 2022.
Page Number: 19-20; repr. p. 18
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Article Scope: Mention and reproduction.
Laure Blanc-Benon.
La Question du Réalisme en Peinture : Approches Contemporaines.
Paris, France: VRIN, 2009.
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Scene.
Rochester, NY: Arts & Cultural Council, 1969-1976.
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Article Author: Timesha.
Article Title: The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide.
Article Scope: Poetry.
Community Voices in the Gallery: a Collection of Writings by Members of our Community Inspired by Works of Art at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2009.
Page Number: 30
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Article Scope: Mention and reproduction.
Monet: Late Paintings of Giverny from the Musée Marmottan.
New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994.
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Article Scope: Mention and reproduction.
Janne Sirén.
The Impressionist Revolution and the Advent of Abstract Art.
Buffalo, NY: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 2016.
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Rochester Evening Times.
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Article Author: Seiberling, Grace.
Article Title: Looking at Waterloo Bridge.
Article Scope: Mention and reproduction.
Nancy Norwood, ed.
Monet's Waterloo Bridge: Vision and Process.
Rochester, NY: RIT Press, 2018.
Page Number: 33,
Figure Number: 5, p. 35
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Article Author: Zamani, Daniel.
Article Title: Experiencing the Sublime: Northern Coasts.
Article Scope: Mention and reproduction.
Christoph Heinrich.
Claude Monet: The Truth of Nature.
Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 2019.
Page Number: 200; 215; cat. 102,
Figure Number: 102
Portfolio List
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This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Web Links
See links to web pages and lesson plans
Monet & Japan
website to accompany the National Gallery of Australia's exhibition.