High Tide (Pleine mer)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

In the summer of 1920, Matisse took his wife, Amélie, and his daughter, Marguerite, to the resort town of Étretat in Normandy, where they rented a room in a beachfront hotel. There, he developed his interest in landscapes and still-life painting. Recalling marine scenes by Courbet and Monet, Matisse's canvas similarly highlights the white cliffs and shows a concern with representing the fluid climate of the Atlantic shore. In displaying an interest in changing conditions, Matisse deviated from his earlier rejection of the impressionist and naturalist zeal for fleeting, atmospheric effects.

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