Rising Tide at Pourville (Marée montante à Pourville)

Painting in Normandy in the spring of 1882, Monet found rich subject matter in the cliff-bound stone cottages formerly occupied by customs officers who kept watch over the Channel coast. He depicted these rustic structures from a variety of angles in several canvases. Here painting from an elevated viewpoint, Monet crops the cottage and the ridge to capture the high horizon line where the whitecapped sea meets the darkened, stormy sky. While a powerful tide moves horizontally across the canvas, the equally untamed vegetation curls in bright brushstrokes of reds, yellows, greens, and blues on the side of the cliff.
Artist: Claude Monet, French, 1840-1926
Medium: Oil on canvas
Place Made: France
Dates: 1882
Dimensions: 26 x 32 in. (66 x 81.3cm) Frame: 35 x 41 1/4 x 4 in. (88.9 x 104.8 x 10.2 cm)
Signature: Signed and dated lower right: "82 Claude Monet"
Collections: European Art
Museum Location: This item is not on view
Accession Number: 41.1260
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Horace O. Havemeyer