Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Raoul Dufy,
Le Quinze Août
(detail), 1931
Artists in Normandy
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Monet's great friend and
fellow Impressionist, Renoir
(1841-1919), did not discover
Normandy until he came to the
coast in 1879, the year he painted
Cliffs at Pourville
and
Mussel
Collectors at Berneval
. Once
Monet had settled in Giverny,
Renoir was a regular visitor.
Jean-François Millet
Son of a peasant farmer in
Gréville-Hague, Millet (1814-75)
was apprenticed to a painter in
Cherbourg before moving to
Paris, where he worked under
Paul Delaroche, and later to
Barbizon, where he became a
member of the Barbizon School
led by Théodore Rousseau. He is
best known for his naturalistic
paintings of farm workers.
Claude Monet,
Chemin de la Cavée
Claude Monet
The founder and leading light
of Impressionism was brought
up in Le Havre. Having moved to
Paris, he returned regularly to
paint in Honfleur, Rouen, Étretat
and Varengeville. In 1883 he
settled in Giverny, where he spent
the rest of his life
(see pp34-7)
.
Jean-Baptiste Corot
Corot (1796-1875) was a
landscape artist who turned to
portrait painting late in his career.
The picturesque town of Étretat
(see p78)
had particular appeal for
him, and he travelled there with
Courbet in the 1860s and '70s.
JMW Turner
The greatest English land-
scape artist of his time, Turner
(1775-1851) paid frequent visits
to Dieppe, Le Havre, Rouen and
the Seine estuary. His vibrant
watercolours had a profound
influence on the young Monet.
Gustave Courbet
First and most significant of
the French Realists, Gustave
Courbet (1819-77) spent time in
Trouville with the American artist
Whistler, as well as accompany-
ing Corot to Étretat. His series of
stormy seascapes, with changing
skies, was a great influence on
the Impressionists.
Théodore Géricault
Born into a rich Rouen family,
Géricault (1791-1824) shocked
contemporaries with the realism
of paintings such as
The Raft of
the Medusa
.
For more on Monet
See pp34-7
48
