1874
oil
canvas
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
The Cliff (La Falaise) is a 1874 oil by Jules Breton, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
A person sits on a rocky shore, facing the ocean. They’re dressed in a dark coat and a white headscarf, with bare feet dangling over the edge. A red cloth lies beside them. The waves crash below, and the sky is pale with distant hills on the horizon. The artist used quick brushstrokes to show light on the water and rocks. Notice how the colors shift—cool blues for the sea, warm browns for the shore. Look up impasto next to see how thick paint can create texture like this.
Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (French pronunciation: ; 1 May 1827 – 5 July 1906) was a 19th-century French naturalist painter.
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