# Boats at Berck-sur-Mer

**Édouard Manet** (French, 1832–1883)  
1873  
oil on fabric  
Framed: 52.5 x 74 x 7 cm (20 11/16 x 29 1/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 34 x 55.8 cm (13 3/8 x 21 15/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1940.534. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.534).

## About this work

Ever since his childhood, Manet spent almost every summer at the seashore. At age 16, after failing the entrance exam for the naval academy, he embarked as an apprentice on a training ship, traveling as far away as Rio de Janeiro. The sea would always capture his imagination, and in 1864 he painted several seascapes. This painting was made nearly ten years later, while the artist was staying in Berck-sur-Mer, near Boulogne. Exploring light and movement, he rapidly sketched the sails of the countless ships that dance in the wind on blue-green waves highlighted with white. Manet even added a slight curve to the horizon, thus conveying an impression of infinite space, despite the painting's small size.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Édouard Manet painted this in 1873, aged 41. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Édouard Manet](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/edouard-manet)

French, 1832–1883; born in Paris; died in Paris

Manet came from a prosperous Parisian family, trained under Thomas Couture and studied the old masters, Velázquez above all. In the 1860s he provoked critics with Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia, modern subjects painted in flat, frank colour with little modelling. Though he never showed with the Impressionists, younger painters looked to him as a leader, and in his last years he painted Parisian café life and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: France, 19th century
- The artist was 41
- Real size: about 13 × 22 in (34 × 56 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/540.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/540/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/boats-at-berck-sur-mer-cma-119697).