Claude Monet's The Beach At Sainte-Adresse

The nineteenth century produced a large number of works of art from numerous of artists. Since I have been to the Art Institute in Chicago, I decided to walk through this gallery online. Remembering that when I went there I liked a lot of the artwork that I saw. There I stumbled upon an artwork by Claude Monet called “The beach at Sainte-Adresse’. This painting caught my eye because of the beach scenery. The beach has always been my favorite place to go, where I am able to relax and clear my mind. This is what I was able to feel when I saw this artwork.

With the many changes of the nineteenth century, and the increase use of travel guides and railroads, traveling became more popular. This caused many hotels to start building on the beaches which attracted more people to invade these local communities. In these paintings Monet shows the local fishing villagers in the left foreground and the background shows the booming hotel industry. Showing that the local and tourist life coexisting together. He made another piece called “Regatta at

Sainte-Andresse,”which is shown in the metropolitan museum. This painting shows more of the tourism aspect. Although these paintings were not meant to be sold together, it is evident that they go together. They are similar in size and depicts the same scenery. I would also say they go together because “The beach of Sainte-Andresse,” shows more of the fishermen working and in the background you see the buildings of hotels, foreshadowing the booming popularity for coastal vacations. In the second painting Monet paints the luxurious life of being rich and to travel.
The idea Monet wanted to show was the, “differing conditions under which the same scene, convenient to his father's house, could be observed”(The Art Institute of Chicago).

In the painting from the art institute shows the beach at low tide, influenced by native fishermen and their dark-sailed working boats, while the Metropolitan Museum's features white sailed yachts on a sunny day and the urban tourists enjoying the water at high tide. This can also relate to upper class and the middle working class. In the beach and sea pictures of 1867, Monet was plainly not trying to reproduce faithfully the scene before him as examined in detail but rather attempting to record on the spot the impression that relaxed. He wanted to show what was seen then, with all its movement and vitality. Buildings, figures, boats, and the pebble beach are swiftly brushed in as flat color patterns, with little attention paid to their weight or

solidity.
When reading about “The beach of Sainte-Andresse,” I read that they scanned the painting and found that Monet did not initially want to put fishermen into the image. The scan revealed that, “ he included three well-dressed tourist along the shoreline and a number of white-sailed pleasure boats in the water at the right”(The Art Institute of Chicago). He painted over this upper class image, replacing them with three fishermen and their boat on the left. Though he painted these to play around with the changing of conditions. He revised this painting to show the physical and social change that was happening in Saint-Andresse.
I think it is funny how Monet never intended to let people see this piece. In our nineteenth century book I read that he typically avoided touristic view. Instead he liked to paint “his world, his friends, his family”(Facos 328). This is where impressionism accompanies with naturalism. The style of art that Monet painted was called impressionism and was a new expression of art towards the end of the nineteenth century. Impressionism was a new way to express individual ideas, feelings, and interests. This period steered away from academic paintings and romanticism. Trying to paint more things that were realistic and everyday life. The impressionist artists, “Looked with fresh eyes at the purpose, subject matter, and technique of painting”(Facos 305). This cause for a totally different approach compared to the other periods we have seen in the past. I think this style appealed more to younger artist due to the loose brush strokes, but also the change of subject matter.