Low Tide at Pourville, near Dieppe, 1882

From the museum

This is one of several views Claude Monet painted of Pourville, a fishing village on the north coast of France in Normandy. Pourville featured a boardwalk, a broad beach, and stunning cliffs. According to the artist's correspondence, the village was nothing special, but he was inspired by the landscape: "One could not be any closer to the sea than I am, on the pebbled beach itself and the waves beat at the foot of the house." During the spring of 1882 in Pourville, Monet stayed in a small hotel similar to the dwellings seen at the foot of the cliff to the right in this painting. The narrow strokes of black paint along the the edge of the water at the base of the cliff indicate bathers.