Shop art print and framed art Sur la plage by Edouard Manet

"Sur la plage" (On the beach) was painted by Édouard Manet in 1873. He painted it during a seaside holiday. The grains of sand mixed with the paint are proof of this. It was one of the first works he painted entirely en plein air. Today, it forms part of the collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. In the summer of 1873, Manet and his family went to Berck-sur-Mer, on the English Channel, for three weeks. There he asked his brother Eugène, who would marry Berthe Morisot a year later, and his wife Suzanne to pose for him. While his wife, well protected from the sun and wind, was immersed in her book, Eugène looked at the sea and reflected. Ten years earlier, Manet had painted his brother in a similar pose in Le déjeuner sur l'herbe. Both are depicted very close up, with their backs to the viewer. Because they are so lost in thought, the work expresses intense concentration. The grey, triangular profiles are reflected in the sails of the boats on the water. This painting clearly shows the influence of the Impressionist style. Although Manet remained faithful to his dark palette, the background is executed in light brushstrokes. This is particularly evident in the sea, which is decorated with a number of bands of different colours. The horizon in this painting is particularly high, leaving only a thin band of blue in the sky. Such a splash of colour on the upper edge of a painting, combined with the lack of depth, is reminiscent of the Japanese prints that were fashionable in [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the impressionism style.

 

« Sur la plage » is kept at Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of Sur la plage by Edouard Manet on Wikipedia.