The Departure of the Boats, Étretat

About this artwork

Forced indoors by inclement fall weather, Claude Monet painted Boats on the Beach at Étretat and The Departure of the Boats, Étretat while looking out the window of his room at the Hôtel Blanquet. The two form a pair that share a palette, subject, and vantage point. In one of his daily letters to his companion and future wife, Alice Hoschedé, dated November 24, 1885, Monet described first Boats on the Beach and then Departure of the Boats: “In the afternoon, I worked in my room on my caloges [re...

Art Historical Context

Claude Monet's *The Departure of the Boats, Étretat* (1885) captures the dramatic Normandy coastline at Étretat, a favored subject for the artist during his late-19th-century painting campaigns. This oil on canvas, measuring 73.5 × 93.5 cm, depicts boats setting out from the harbor against the iconic chalk cliffs and turbulent sea, embodying Monet's obsession with capturing ephemeral light and atmosphere. As a cornerstone of Impressionism, Monet pioneered loose, dappled brushstrokes and vibrant color contrasts to convey movement and changing weather rather than precise details. Oil on canvas allowed him to layer thick impasto for texture, mimicking the choppy waves and sea spray. Painted during a period when Monet worked en plein air (outdoors), it reflects the movement's revolutionary shift from studio realism to sensory experience. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Department of Painting and Sculpture of Europe, this work highlights Monet's enduring influence on modern art, inviting viewers to feel the salty breeze and witness nature's raw power. A testament to Impressionism's cultural triumph, it reminds us how art can freeze fleeting moments forever.

About the Artist

Claude Monet · 1840–1926

Claude Monet, born Oscar-Claude Monet on November 14, 1840, in Paris and raised in Le Havre, Normandy, began his artistic journey as a successful teenage caricaturist. His formal training started at the Le Havre secondary school of the arts in 1851, where he received his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard. Around 1858, he met Eugène Boudin, who became his pivotal mentor, introducin...