Impressionism, locations
where the ‘impressionists’ did paint:
the rough seas at
Belle-Île
Belle-Île introduction:
Belle-Île-en-Mer is an island south of Brittany in the Bay of Biscay and west of Nantes (iR468; iR9; iR3).
Claude Monet painted here and also John Peter Russell and Henri Matisse↓.
Other artists who also worked here were:
Guillaumin in 1895? (iR6);
Henry Moret (1856-1913) in the years 1895-1906ca (iR6=iR15; iR373; iR14; iR6; iR6),
Maxim Maufra (1861-1918) in 1905 (iR6; iR6; iR6; iR6=iR15; iR6; iR6; M100; iR7; iR116),
Georges Clairin (1843-1919) around 1900 (iR6);
Henri Rivière (1864-1951) in 1910 (iR6; iR6; iR6; iR6).
On this page you will find several paintings and when possible with indications of the location.
You will also find some additonal information.
Note: Additional info and pictures will be added.
Monet and Belle-Île:
1886/09/15 Claude Monet (went to stay in the hamlet of Kervilahouen (iR468; iR9) at Belle-Île-en-Mer. He would stay here until the 25th of November.
Here he depicted the Needles (Pyramids) and the Rocher du Lion of Port-Coton and the Port-Goulphar, Domois. (R22,CR1084) He did meet Gustave Geffroy here, his later biographer. Geffroy kept a diary that was publised as ‘Pays d’Ouest’ (Paris, 1897). (R22,CR1085).
Monet painted the following works in Belle-Île: CR1084-1122 (iR3+iR182/III).
On rainy days Monet made two pictures from the window of his Kervilahouen residence looking nort-east towards Petit-Cosquet (R22,CR1120 +1121).
Another rainy day, 1886/11/17, Monet painted the lobster fisherman and his porter, François Hippolyte Guillaume* (R22,CR1122).
Several of them had been shown at the Georges Petit gallery in 1887 and also at the large exhibition ‘Monet-Rodin’ at Georges Petit in 1889 (R22IV,p1017).
Note*: also painted by John Peter Russell (iR15;iR6).
The Pyramids at Port-Coton:
The Pyramids or needles (les aiguilles) at Port-Coton lye south-west of Kervilahouen (iR9; iR468).
Claude Monet depicted this in CR1084-1089.
Just north of the Pyramids is the ‘Lion Rock’ which Monet depicted in CR1090-1092 (R22).
Gustave Geffroy described it as ‘a huge greenish lion sculpted by time’ (Pays d’Ouest, p.255) (R22III,p413).
Port-Goulphar:
The Port-Goulphar lies just south of Kervilahouen, at an estuary where also (Port-)Domois is located (iR9; iR468).
Claude Monet depicted the islands at the sea end of this estuary, including the ‘Carigueroack’, the rocks of Radenec and the Guibel Rock in CR1093-1119 (R22).
John Peter Russell and Belle-Île:
John Peter Russell (1858-1930) was born in Sydney (Australia). He studied in Paris at the studio of Fernand Cormon (?1884-87), where his fellow students included Vincent van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Russell first visited Belle-Île-en-Mer, where this work was painted, in 1886. He was immediately drawn to its remoteness and to the wildness of the landscape. It was also during this visit that Russell made the acquaintance of Claude Monet, who spent several months painting Belle-Ile. In 1888 Russell and his Italian-born bride Marianna, a former model for Rodin, moved into Le Château de l’Anglais, which was situated at the south-west of the island. Russell had designed and personally overseen the construction of the house, which was to be the family’s home for the next twenty years. (iR15)
See links for several pictures: (iR6; iR6=iR14; iR6=aR3; iR6; iR6; iR6; iR6; iR15; iR6; iR6).
Henry Matisse and Belle-Île:
Henry Matisse (1869-1954) had first travelled to Belle-Île in 1895 with his friend and fellow artist Emile-Auguste Wéry. He returned in the summer of 1896 +1897. Like Monet, Matisse also stayed in Kervilahouen. Matisse was inspired by the example of two other painters who had captured the ferocious energy of Belle-Île, with the waves crashing against its giant, jagged cliffs: Claude Monet and John Peter Russell. Matisse stayed with the latter and painted with him on his trips there. At his final visit to the island in 1897, he was beginning to approach towards the avant-garde. (iR15; iR14)
See links for several pictures: (iR6=iR14; iR6=iR15; iR6=iR15; iR7; iR6; iR6=iR15; iR6; iR6=iR14; iR6=M160; iR325).
Sources:
My main sources are the Catalogue Raisonné of Wildenstein (1996=R22).
See links for other general references (=R), for references to internet sites (=iR), for references to musea (=M). For other additional references (=aR) see below. See links for practical hints and abbreviations and for the subscription of the paintings.
Further readings:
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Additional references (=aRx):
- en.wikipedia.org//Belle-Île (English WikiPedia page on Belle-Île; =iR3)
- commons.wikimedia.org//Belle-Île (pictures on WikiMedia depicting Belle-Île; =iR6)
- www.deutscherandhackett.com//russell (extended info on John Peter Russell)
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Recommanded citation: “Impressionism, locations where the ‘impressionists’ did paint: Belle-Île. Last modified 2026/07/13. https://www.impressionism.nl/belle-ile/”
Note: additional info and pictures will follow.