Rain: Etretat --- Day 15/14

Walk: AMC Kabuki (The Secret Agent)

Distance: 3.25 miles

Claude Monet, Rain, Etretat, 1886, oil on canvas

Perhaps you've seen this rock formation before. It is the Porte d'Aval, a massive, natural arch visible from Etretat and one of Claude Monet's fascinations.  Followers of Monet's work certainly have: he portrayed it in more than sixty works in all weather from tranquil to storms.

The rainy one above begs the question: Did Monet paint it outdoors (en plein air)?  He wasn't the first artist to paint en plein air, but he was the first to immerse himself so thoroughly in that method.  Come snow, rain, wind as well as quieter days, Monet famously rigged up ways to protect his canvas, paints and himself to withstand the elements and stay directly engaged with nature's fleeting effects of light, color, atmosphere.  This personal dedication had revolutionary effects not just in his self-taught development impressionistic brushwork and techniques but because it challenged the studio-bound traditions of academic painting and paved the way for contemporary and future artists to experiment and innovate.

That said, Monet was also a practical man who realized the final touches that a fine artwork required were not possible in blowing wind, rain, shifting light and other obstacles.  After he had captured the essence of those natural elements, he often brought his canvasses back to his studio to complete to his satisfaction.

A note on the particular painting above:  It was the very first of his to be acquired by a public art institution.  Notably, that museum was in Norway because French critics, academics and other dictators

of French taste were still far from accepting Impressionism as a serious and valid art form.