Entretat
July, 1858
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash and white gouache, over traces of graphite, on blue wove paper
Dimensions
17.2 × 25.1 cm (6 13/16 × 9 15/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83327
Art Historical Context
Clarkson Stanfield’s *Entretat* captures a fleeting moment along the dramatic Normandy coast in July 1858. A leading British marine painter of the Victorian era, Stanfield frequently traveled to France to study its rugged shorelines, and this intimate drawing records the celebrated cliffs and sea arches of Étretat. Though modest in scale, the work reveals his lifelong fascination with the shifting moods of water and rock. Executed in pen and brown ink with fluid washes and touches of white gouache on blue paper, the drawing demonstrates Stanfield’s mastery of light and atmosphere. The blue gr...