He knew the area well, as he had spent his childhood in nearby Le Havre. The empty shingle beach has a wintry, desolate air. Three figures in a boat rowing towards us are wrapped up against the cold, and smoke rises from the chimney of the cottage on the cliff.
In the distance sailing boats race along the horizon, their dark sails set against the glimmer of sunlight below the bank of grey cloud. Monet was in his early twenties and at the start of his artistic career when he painted this picture.
He was living in Paris but had travelled to Normandy in the last week of May with his fellow artist Frederic Bazille in search of fresh motifs. He was particularly drawn to the coast, painting several sea views during the summer and autumn that year.
For the Salon picture, Monet deleted the rowing boat, replacing it with a cart in the water and figures and horses on the beach, emphasising that this was a working landscape. Originally a small fishing port, Sainte-Adresse was also developing into a holiday resort where many wealthy people had weekend villas, but this is not evident in the study or the larger picture.
Here the slightly desolate shingle beach is rather more as Monet remembered it. It has a slightly desolate air. It is empty of people, but there are the three figures in a boat rowing energetically towards us. It feels wintry; the people in the boat are wrapped up against the cold and smoke rises from the chimney of the cottage on the cliff.
