Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on loan
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/georges-seurat-1926" aria-label="More by Georges Seurat" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Georges Seurat</a>
Le Bec du Hoc Grandcamp
Purchased 1952
animals: birds
bird - non-specific
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
cliff
coast
countries and continents
France, Normandy
Grandcamp
natural features (non-UK)
places
Pointe du Hoc
sea
seascapes and coasts
sunshine
weather
<p>Seurat painted this work while holidaying on the Normandy coast in the summer of 1885. He made a study of this motif on the spot, but would have refined and developed the image in the studio. Seurat aimed to place painting on a scientific basis in its treatment of light and colour and, using a style known as Divisionism, juxtaposed small brushstrokes of complementary colours to create a luminous effect in his works. He painted the border on the canvas, but the frame is much later in date.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
5 March 1997
5 March 1997
1997-03-05
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
1997-03-05
Long Loan to the National Gallery
Loan-out
14 June 2004 – 19 September 2003
2003-09-19
16 June 2004 – 19 September 2004
2004-09-19
2004-06-16
The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, USA)
http://www.artic.edu/aic
2004-06-14
Seurat and the making of La Grande Jatte
Loan-out
24 February 2008 – 22 June 2008
2008-06-22
24 February 2008 – 22 June 2008
2008-06-22
2008-02-24
Kunsthaus Zug (Zug, Switzerland)
2008-02-24
It is what it is. Neoimpressionismus und Moderne
Loan-out
2 October 2009 – 9 May 2010
2010-05-09
2 October 2009 – 17 January 2010
2010-01-17
2009-10-02
Kunsthaus Zürich (Zürich, Switzerland)
http://www.kunsthaus.ch/
11 February 2010 – 9 May 2011
2011-05-09
2010-02-11
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (Frankfurt, Germany)
http://www.schirn.de
2009-10-02
Georges Seurat: Figures in Space
Loan-out
16 November 2012 – 17 March 2013
2013-03-17
16 November 2012 – 17 March 2013
2013-03-17
2012-11-16
National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia)
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au
2012-11-16
Neo-Impressionism
Loan-out
1 May 2013 – 13 January 2014
2014-01-13
1 May 2013 – 13 January 2014
2014-01-13
2013-05-01
Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/
2013-05-01
Van Gogh at Work
Loan-out
19 May 2014 – 10 August 2014
2014-08-10
19 May 2014 – 10 August 2014
2014-08-10
2014-05-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2014-05-19
Kenneth Clark
Exhibition
5 May 2015 – 6 September 2015
2015-09-06
5 May 2015 – 6 September 2015
2015-09-06
2015-05-05
Munch Museum (Oslo, Norway)
http://www.munch.museum.no
2015-05-05
Munch : Van Gogh
Loan-out
21 October 2017 – 28 January 2018
2018-01-28
21 October 2017 – 28 January 2018
2018-01-28
2017-10-21
The National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan)
2017-10-21
Hokusai and Japonisme
Loan-out
30 March 2018 – 20 January 2019
2019-01-20
30 March 2018 – 15 July 2018
2018-07-15
2018-03-30
Musée des impressionnismes (Giverny, France)
26 August 2018 – 20 January 2019
2019-01-20
2018-08-26
Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck (Remagen, Germany)
2018-03-30
Impressionisms/Japonisms
Loan-out
27 May 2019 – 26 July 2020
2020-07-26
15 October 2019 – 27 January 2020
2020-01-27
2019-10-15
Musée de l’Orangerie (Paris, France)
2019-05-27
Félix Fénéon (1861-1944)
Loan-out
1 May 2025 – 1 May 2026
2026-05-01
1 May 2025 – 1 May 2026
2026-05-01
2025-05-01
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
2025-05-01
National Gallery Bicentenary
Loan-out
13 February 2026 – 17 May 2026
2026-05-17
13 February 2026 – 17 May 2026
2026-05-17
2026-02-13
The Courtauld Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.courtauld.ac.uk
2026-02-13
Seurat and the Sea
Loan-out
Le Bec du Hoc, Grandcamp
support: 648 × 816 mm
frame: 839 × 998 × 65 mm
Purchased 1952
<p>Seurat painted this work while holidaying on the Normandy coast in the summer of 1885. He made a study of this motif on the spot, but would have refined and developed the image in the studio. Seurat aimed to place <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> on a scientific basis in its treatment of light and colour and, using a style known as <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/n/neo-impressionism" title="Glossary definition for 'Neo-Impressionism'"><span>Divisionism</span></a>, juxtaposed small brushstrokes of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/complementary-colours" title="Glossary definition for 'Complementary colours'"><span>complementary colours</span></a> to create a luminous effect in his works. He painted the border on the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/canvas" title="Glossary definition for 'Canvas'"><span>canvas</span></a>, but the frame is much later in date.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-31T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>Georges Seurat</b><span> 1859-1891 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/seurat-le-bec-du-hoc-grandcamp-n06067" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N06067</span></a> </span><b>Le Bec du Hoc, Grandcamp</b><span>
1885 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Inscribed 'Seurat' b.r.</span>
<br/><span>Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 32 1/8 (64.5 x 81.5)</span>
<br/><span>Purchased by the National Gallery from Lord Clark through Marlborough Fine Art (Grant-in-Aid) 1952; transferred 1953</span>
<br/><i>Prov:</i><span>
Camille Laurent, Belgium; Georges Famenne, Brussels; private collection, Berlin; Frau E. Kocherthaler, Hamburg; with or through Alfred Flechtheim, Berlin and Düsseldorf; Lord Clark, London, 1935 or 1936</span>
<br/><i>Exh:</i><span>
</span><i>8</i><i>e</i><i>
Exposition de Peinture par Mme Marie Bracquemond, MIle Mary Cassatt, MM. Degas. Forain</i><span> et al. (8th Impressionist exhibition), Paris, May-June 1886 (176); Salon des Indépendants, Paris, August-September 1886 (354); IVe Exposition des XX, Brussels, February 1887 (Seurat 2); IXe Exposition des XX, Brussels, October 1892 (Seurat 4), lent by C. Laurent; </span><i>Exposition des Peintres Impressionnistes</i><span>, La Libre Esthétique, Brussels, February-March 1904 (145), lent by Camille Laurent; </span><i>Georges Seurat (1859-1891)</i><span>, Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, December 1908-January 1909 (56), lent by M.G.F.; XII Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia, Venice, April-October 1920 (French pavilion 55); </span><i>A Nineteenth Century Selection: French Paintings</i><span>, Bignou Gallery, New York, March 1935 (8, repr.); </span><i>L'Impressionnisme</i><span>, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, June-September 1935 (78); </span><i>Seurat (1859-91)</i><span>, Galerie Paul Rosenberg, Paris, February 1936 (42); </span><i>Masters of French 19th Century Painting</i><span>, New Burlington Galleries, London, October 1936 (117), lent by Kenneth Clark; </span><i>A Century of French Painting</i><span>, Leeds City Art Gallery, October 1937 (20); </span><i>Nineteenth Century French Paintings</i><span>, National Gallery, London, December 1942-January 1943 (34); XXIV Biennale, Venice, May-September 1948 (Impressionists 98, repr.); </span><i>Landscape in French Art 1550-1900</i><span>, RA, London, December 1949-March 1950 (292); </span><i>Seurat: Paintings and Drawings</i><span>, Art Institute of Chicago, January-March 1958 (107); Museum of Modern Art, New York, March-May 1958 (107)</span>
<br/><i>Lit:</i><span>
Paul Signac, 'Le Néo-Impressionnisme: Documents' in </span><i>Gazette des Beaux-Arts</i><span>, 6th period, XI, 1934, p.58; Paul Signac, 'The Neo Impressionist Movement' in exh. catalogue </span><i>Seurat and his Contemporaries</i><span>, Wildenstein Gallery, London, January-February 1937, p.15; John Rewald, </span><i>Georges Seurat</i><span> (Paris 1948), pp.53, 71, 152, repr. pl.35; Henri Dorra and John Rewald, </span><i>Seurat</i><span>
(Paris 1959), No.153, pp.XLIV-XLVI, LIV, LVIII, 178-80, repr. pp.179 and 180; Robert L. Herbert, 'Seurat and Emile Verhaeren: Unpublished Letters' in </span><i>Gazette des Beaux-Arts</i><span>, 6th period, LIV, 1959, pp.316, 318, 322, 327-8; C.M. de Hauke, </span><i>Seurat et son Oeuvre</i><span> (Paris 1961), No.159, Vol.1, p.106, repr. p.107; André Chastel and Fiorella Minervino, </span><i>L'Opera Completa di Seurat</i><span>
(Milan 1972), No.159, p.103 repr. and pl.XXVIII in colour</span>
<br/><i>Repr:</i><span>
Lucie Cousturier, </span><i>Seurat</i><span>
(Paris 1926), pl.19; Jacques de Laprade, </span><i>Seurat</i><span>
(Paris 1951), p.36 in colour </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Seurat's stay in Grandcamp on the Normandy coast in the summer of 1885 resulted in his first series of coastal scenes and seascapes, which apart from boats are almost devoid of any trace of the human presence. There are altogether twelve croquetons dating from this visit and five larger pictures, some of which may have been painted partly or wholly in Paris after his return. A croqueton 16.2 x 25.2cm probably painted on the spot, served as the basis for this work. The painted border is by the artist, but the frame is modern and the stippling on it is not by him. In fact contemporary reviews record that the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> was exhibited in 1886 and 1887 in a white frame. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>According to an article by Signac published in 1934 (op. cit.), 'Le Bec du Hoc' was bought from the exhibition of Les XX at Brussels in 1887 by M. van Cutsem and was the first picture Seurat ever sold. However, van Cutsem definitely owned another seascape 'La Grève du Bas-Butin, Honfleur', which was in the same exhibition of Les XX, so it was probably the picture Signac had in mind. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>The Bec du Hoc, which is usually known as the Pointe du Hoc, is a promontory about two miles east of Grandcamp which was the scene of particularly heavy fighting during the Normandy landings, when it suffered extensive damage. To reduce a German battery which threatened the troops landing on Omaha Beach, the American commander ordered a naval bombardment by the battleship </span><i>Texas</i><span>. After 600 salvoes of 14-inch shells the 2nd Rangers Battalion scaled the cliffs at dawn, using rope ladders. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><span>Ronald Alley, </span><i>Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists</i><span>, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.682-3, reproduced p.682</span>
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-15T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
animals: birds bird - non-specific cities, towns, villages (non-UK) cliff coast countries and continents France, Normandy Grandcamp natural features (non-UK) places Pointe du Hoc sea seascapes and coasts sunshine weather