Édouard Manet

Aurélien Scholl, Paris
Adolph Tavernier, Paris
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris
Dr. Soubies, Paris
Etienne Bignou, Paris
Knoedler & Co., New York
The Lefevre Gallery (Alex. Reid & Lefevre), London
Acquired from the above March 1933 and thence by descent to the present owner

Berlin, Galerie Matthiesen, Ausstellung Édouard Manet, 1928, no. 26
Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Manet, 1928
Glasgow, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century French Paintings, 1930, no. 11
Amsterdam, E.J van Wisselingh & Co., La Peinture française aux XIXe et XXe Siècles, 1931, no. 192
New York, M. Knoedler & Co., The Landscape in French Painting, XIX-XX Centuries, 1931, no. 13
The Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum,  Manet and the Sea, 2003-04, no. 54

Théodore Duret, Manet, Paris, 1902, no. 136, discussed
L'art moderne, vol. I, Paris, 1919, illustrated pl. 79
Etienne Moreau-Nélaton, Manet raconté par lui-même, Paris, 1926, vol. I, fig. 148, illustrated p. 131
Théodore Duret, Manet, Paris, 1926, no. 136, discussed
Paul Colin, Édouard Manet, Paris, 1932, illustrated pl. XXXIV
Paul Jamot and Georges Wildenstein, Manet, Paris, 1932, vol. 1, no. 192, catalogued p. 141; vol. 2, fig. 311, illustrated p. 153
Adolphe Tabarant, Manet et ses oeuvres, Paris, 1947, no. 175, illustrated p. 608
Maurice Bex, Manet, Paris, 1948, pl. 57
Marcello Venturi and Sandra Orienti, L'opera pittorica di Édouard Manet, Milan, 1967, no. 149, p. 100
Phoebe Pool and Sandra Orienti, The Complete Paintings of Manet, London, 1970, no. 149, p. 100
Denis Rouart and Sandra Orienti, Tout l'oeuvre peint d'Édouard Manet, Paris, 1970, no. 149, illustrated
Denis Rouart and Georges Wildenstein, Édouard Manet, Catalogue raisonné, Lausanne and Paris, 1975, vol. 1, no. 168, illustrated p. 153
Françoise Cachin, Manet, Paris, 1990, no. 21, illustrated p. 151

In this canvas from 1871, Manet depicts a day at the beach of Arcachon, a small resort town along the Bay of Arcachon southwest of Bordeaux.  Manet and his family rented a chalet here for the month of March in 1871,  taking refuge from the violent civil upheaval occuring occuring in Paris at the time.   He painted several depictions of the vicinity of his house, and most of these views could be seen from his window.   The Arcachon pictures are among Manet's first plein air compositions, painted not from sketches but directly onto the canvas. 

The alternate title of this picture tells us that Manet has depicted Arcachon on a beautiful day, but from the billowing sails of the boats and the flapping coat tail of the standing figure in the foreground, it must have been windy.  Although it was partially sheltered from storms by nearby Cape Ferret, Arcachon was often buffeted by winds blowing off the Atlantic.  The wooden pilings along the beach were probably preventative measures taken to avoid flooding and erosion.  Manet had also depicted another version of this same view, called Stormy Weather at Arcachon, and in the exhibition catalogue for Manet and the Sea, Juliet Wilson-Barreau and David Degener write about the present work in relation to this other picture: "The intensity of [the present work] indicates the speed with which the artist worked.  The fair-weather picture is as sunny and delightful as the foul-weather scene is dramatic.  The tone is set by the red hulled boat just left of center: Conjured up in three or four swift brushstrokes, it is accompanied by two white birds, one flying, the other on the water, its body a blob of yellow paint with head and long neck a thin filament of white.  Again, we cannot be certain of the location, but the buildings to the right may represent a closer (and clearer) view of those shown in the foul-weather view.  Dabs of yellowish pigment between the red-hulled boat and the vessel to its right indicate Bird Island" (Manet and the Sea (exhibition catalogue), The Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2003-04, p. 79).