1886
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Dominant colour
Rocks at Port-Goulphar, Belle-Île is a 1886 oil by Claude Monet, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see jagged rocks rising from the sea, their surfaces rough and weathered, painted in grays and browns with bursts of white foam at their base. The sky is heavy, and the water churns around the stone cliffs, showing the power of the ocean. Monet painted this during a long stay on Belle-Île, a small island off France’s coast. He planned to stay two weeks but found the landscape so challenging and inspiring that he stayed over two months. He painted the same rocks many times, trying to capture how light and weather changed their look. If you want to see more of how paint can show light and motion, look up the technique: impasto.
Belle-Île, a small island off the southern shore of Brittany, was known for its dramatic cliffs, rock formations, and grottoes. As he often did, Claude Monet misjudged the time he would need to explore and capture the beauty of the place, which he variously called “lugubrious,” “terrifying,” and “very beautiful.” He came for two weeks and stayed for more than two months. This canvas is one of a group depicting the frieze of rock formations known as Port-Goulphar.
The artist (d. 1926); sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Dec. 21, 1892, for 4,500 francs [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1891–1901 (no. 2542), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 5, 2013, curatorial object file]; sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, Dec. 19, 1895 or Jan. 4, 1896 [see previous and New York stock book for 1894–1905 (no. 1515, as Belle Isle), both confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 5, 2013,…
Musée de Ghent, 36e exposition des beaux-arts, Sept. 1–Oct. 28, 1895, no cat. no. Boston, Copley Society, Loan Collection of Paintings by Claude Monet and Eleven Sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Mar. 1905, cat. 75, as Belle-Isle. 1886. Lent by Mrs. John Jay Borland. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Collectors: An Exhibition Sponsored by the Men’s Council of the Art Institute, Sept. 20–Oct. 27, 1963, no cat. no. (ill.). Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpieces from Private Collections in Chicago, July 12–Aug. 31, 1969, no cat. no. Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975,…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Oscar-Claude Monet was born in Paris on November 14, 1840, and raised from the age of five in Le Havre, where he began selling charcoal caricatures as a teenager.
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