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Dimensions: measurements 25 1/2 by 36 in. alternate measurements 64.8 by 91.5 cm
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Provenance: Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the artist on October 22, 1908)
Hammer Galleries, New York (acquired from the above)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1965
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Notes: This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being prepared by Didier Imbert.
Born in Paris in 1865, Gustave Loiseau, like many of the Impressionist painters, found inspiration in the coast of Normandy. In Les falaises de Saint-Jouin, Loiseau eliminates any signs of human presence, choosing instead to focus on nature itself. The composition is anchored by the dramatic cliffs on the right, and framed by a wide expanse of sea and sky.
Turning to this particular landscape, Loiseau, like Monet, followed in the footsteps of Gustave Courbet, who painted some of his best works on the coast of Normandy. Heather Lemonedes writes, "Courbet first journeyed to the Normandy coast when he was twenty-one and was immediately captivated by it. He made numerous return visits in the 1860s, painting the sea and the beach and establishing a reputation as a marine painter. In 1866 the Count de Choiseul lent Courbet a house at Trouville, where the artist spent time in the company of Monet and Boudin. One critic described the sea as producing 'the same emotion as love' in Courbet (Heather Lemonedes in Monet in Normandy (exhibition catalogue), Fine Arts Museums, San Francisco, 2006-07, pp. 82-83).
Figure 1 Claude Monet, A Grainval, près Fécamp, 1881, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Norfolk, Virginia
