Beach at Etretat, Henry Bacon, 1881
I've never been to Etretat, where this was painted -- it is, in fact, in Normandy, where I am right now, but France is big and Normandy stretches a long way --I'm at the very bottom edge of Lower Normandy, and this beach resort is somewhere near the top of Upper Normandy. I've been looking at some recent photos and I must say it does look gorgeous, its famous white cliffs rather putting Dover to shame. But Henry Bacon, an American painter who relocated to France, doesn't show the cliffs or even more than a glimpse of the sea. Instead he gives us a peek behind the scenes, with a rather smartly costumed lady preparing to take a dip. Actually, I don't know about you, but my eye is mostly drawn to the figure kneeling at her feet and, I think, lacing up her beach shoe. The contrast in their clothes is telling -- the modern woman and the peasant, enacting an age-old relationship. I also like the way the painter has used light here -- the sunshine on the beach emphasised by the figure in white in the centre, and the darker, rather shabby passageway between the huts.
I don't know if the beach huts are still there, but I suspect not as they don't appear in any of the photos I've seen. But they do still exist in some French resorts, including one we visit quite often from here -- it's our nearest beach, about 35 minutes away and its name is Carolles. Very child friendly, with miles of white sand, it also has these rather sweet huts, though I've never seen anybody actually using one.
