Artwork
The Departure of the Boats, Étretat
The Departure of the Boats, Étretat is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Claude Monet. It dates from 1893 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting is a marine scene depicting small sailing vessels under full sail off the coast of Étretat in Normandy, with the red of the sails set against the emerald-green sea. The composition is viewed from a slightly elevated vantage point, looking down over cliffs in the foreground, and was observed by Monet from the window of his hotel room on a rainy day.
The work captures a specific moment of maritime activity, the departure of boats from the beach, rendered as a study of color and atmosphere rather than narrative. A related variant, Bateaux sur la plage à Étretat, shows the same site with four boats drawn up on the shore, suggesting that the artist was interested in the boats as recurring motifs of the Étretat coastline, observed in different states of rest and motion.
Technique & Style
The painting belongs to the Potter Palmer Collection and has been part of the Art Institute of Chicago since a 1922 donation by the artist’s family.
Claude Monet executed The Departure of the Boats, Étretat in oil paint on canvas in 1885. The work measures 73.5 cm in height by 93.5 cm in width and depicts small sailboats moving outward along the beach of Étretat, rendered in a marine genre. Monet captured the scene from the window of his hotel room during a rainy day, creating a horizontal composition that emphasizes the emerald hue of the sea against the red of the sails.
The painting belongs to the Potter Palmer Collection and has been part of the Art Institute of Chicago since a 1922 donation by the artist’s family.
History & Provenance
Claude Monet painted The Departure of the Boats, Étretat in 1885 as an oil on canvas marine scene. The work entered the collection of Potter Palmer and was later gifted by his family to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922, where it remains on view. The painting measures 73.5 cm by 93.5 cm and was created on a horizontal canvas, depicting small sailboats offshore at Étretat.
It is part of the museum’s Potter Palmer Collection and is closely associated with Monet’s series of beach and sea scenes from the Normandy coast.
The painting is held by the Art Institute of Chicago as part of the Potter Palmer Collection, accessioned under the name The Departure of the Boats, Étretat. It was acquired through a donation by the family of Potter Palmer in 1922 and has been part of the museum’s exhibition history, including displays in the Impressionist galleries and special exhibitions focused on marine art. The work is cataloged with inventory details reflecting its provenance and current location within the institution.
Overview
Claude Monet’s 1893 oil painting titled The Departure of the Boats, Étretat captures a lively seaside scene on the Normandy coast. The canvas presents a stretch of beach punctuated by sharply angled tents, a gathering of figures along the water’s edge, and distant vessels bearing vivid red‑purple sails. The work resides in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Oscar-Claude Monet was a French painter and founder of Impressionism who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it.
