![Eugène-Louis Boudin - Beach at Étretat [1890]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7528/15225000363_4cdf747723_o.jpg)
Boudin first painted at Étretat in the autumn of 1890, when he made several views of the cliffs and beach. Although he was well known for painting beach scenes filled with fashionably dressed ladies and gentlemen, here Boudin has chosen to exclude tourists and bathers in order to concentrate on traditional fishing vessels that have been pulled onto the shore with the aid of large capstans or winches and draped with drying fishing nets. The distinctive natural archway known as the Porte d'Aval frames the beach on the left, while a steamship makes its way across the horizon, the sole indication of activity and modern life.
[Philadelphia Museum of Art - Oil on canvas, 40.3 x 55.2 cm]