The white cliffs of Étretat on the ‘Alabaster Coast’ of Normandy are a spectacular sight: among the landmarks are the Aiguille (‘needle’) that rises out of the sea like a dorsal fin and, a few hundred metres away, the Porte d’Aval, a natural arch carved out of chalk. These are among the geological features that drew French painters to Étretat in the 19th and earlzy 20th century, most famously Monet, who made dozens of paintings that captured the endlessly varied play of light on the limestone cliffs. Anyone feeling landlocked in Lyon would do well to visit this show at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which brings together some of Monet’s views of Étretat with works by artists as diverse as Delacroix, Courbet, Matisse and even Victor Hugo (29 November–1 March 2026).
Find out more from the Musée des Beaux-Arts’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
