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Lot Essay
In 1882 Claude Monet spent two highly productive periods on the Normandy coast, from early February to early April and then from mid-June to early October. He was delighted with the site and channeled his enthusiasm directly into painting, working on as many as eight separate canvases in one day, capturing the varying effects of light on this inspiring scene. Monet produced nearly one hundred pictures in total during his stay. As Robert Gordon and Andrew Forge have commented, for Monet, "1882 was a year of almost superhuman productivity" (R. Godron and A. Forge, op. cit, p. 95). The present work depicts the sailors' church in Varengeville at the precipice of a monumental cliff, bathed in the morning sun. The light dapples the varying facets of color striating the coastal erosion that dramatically dips down into the shoreline. To obtain this view, Monet worked from rocks that emerged only at low tide.
Paul Tucker wrote about this productive series:
"The irregularity of the sheer rock wall is fully evident from the chiaroscuro which Monet now fully employs with great subtlety. The almost frightening way in which the cliff attains its staggering height from its absolutely flat footings in the sand is suggested by the multiple, sometimes quite bizzare, colors that Monet applies with considerable gusto. In contrast to this shrill palette and tangle of brushstrokes, Monet makes the church appear steadfast and firm. He illuminates it with crisp, even light and sets it against soft cumulus clouds, the later cushioning the structure while countering the verticle thrust of the cliffs below. Like the customs house, the church takes on several personae. It too is like a ship navigating its way through perilous waters, or a stand-in for the seafaring family anxiously awaiting the return of a loved one. With its strong geometric forms contrasting with the tumultuous ones on which it stands, the structure also speaks about the ways in which the human has rationalized the world using its mental powers to fashion moral and intellectual shelters from the chaos of nature while attempting to become one with it.
Monet was not a religious man, but he painted this church more than half a dozen times in 1882, often evoking these very associations. They would have been especially appropriate for this particular church as it sat on the bluff like a lighthouse or sailors' refuge. In addition, it was one of the oldest structures in the region, dating back to the thirteenth century. Its interior designstrongly recalled not the mysterious heavens of most Gothic churches but the hulls of ocean-going ships. Even the cemetery, which lay at the front of the church and was filled with the deceased of local fishing families, had tombstones that contained nautical references and symbols for the sea. Little wonder therefore, that Monet painted it so frequently; it clearly spoke on numerous levels about the human and the natural." (P. H. Tucker, Monet, Life and Art, New Haven, 1995, p. 112-113)
The church at Varengeville. Photograph David Joel and Mike Parsons 2001.
Paul Tucker wrote about this productive series:
"The irregularity of the sheer rock wall is fully evident from the chiaroscuro which Monet now fully employs with great subtlety. The almost frightening way in which the cliff attains its staggering height from its absolutely flat footings in the sand is suggested by the multiple, sometimes quite bizzare, colors that Monet applies with considerable gusto. In contrast to this shrill palette and tangle of brushstrokes, Monet makes the church appear steadfast and firm. He illuminates it with crisp, even light and sets it against soft cumulus clouds, the later cushioning the structure while countering the verticle thrust of the cliffs below. Like the customs house, the church takes on several personae. It too is like a ship navigating its way through perilous waters, or a stand-in for the seafaring family anxiously awaiting the return of a loved one. With its strong geometric forms contrasting with the tumultuous ones on which it stands, the structure also speaks about the ways in which the human has rationalized the world using its mental powers to fashion moral and intellectual shelters from the chaos of nature while attempting to become one with it.
Monet was not a religious man, but he painted this church more than half a dozen times in 1882, often evoking these very associations. They would have been especially appropriate for this particular church as it sat on the bluff like a lighthouse or sailors' refuge. In addition, it was one of the oldest structures in the region, dating back to the thirteenth century. Its interior designstrongly recalled not the mysterious heavens of most Gothic churches but the hulls of ocean-going ships. Even the cemetery, which lay at the front of the church and was filled with the deceased of local fishing families, had tombstones that contained nautical references and symbols for the sea. Little wonder therefore, that Monet painted it so frequently; it clearly spoke on numerous levels about the human and the natural." (P. H. Tucker, Monet, Life and Art, New Haven, 1995, p. 112-113)
The church at Varengeville. Photograph David Joel and Mike Parsons 2001.