The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

The Beach at Saint-Jacut

1909

Édouard Vuillard

(French, 1868–1940)
France, 20th century
distemper on paper, laid down on canvas
Image and Sheet: 57.8 x 43.2 cm (22 3/4 x 17 in.); Mounted: 58.7 x 44.3 cm (23 1/8 x 17 7/16 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.143
Catalogue raisonné: Salomon and Cogeval VIII-345
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Vuillard created this drawing using distemper, a technique that involves mixing pigment and glue, which he favored at this time for the planes of matte color that resulted.

Description

Édouard Vuillard spent the summer of 1909 in the French coastal town of Saint-Jacut de la Mer, known for its beaches and bathing. Sharing housing with a group of artist friends, Vuillard sketched and painted avidly, depicting the seascape in several works including this drawing. Here, the artist emphasized the remoteness of the beach, depicting a woman sitting alone, wearing a gray dress that matches the tone of the infinitely expanding sky beyond her.
  • 1909-1940
    Studio of the artist [1868-1940; Lugt 2497a]
    1972
    (sale, Galerie Motte, Geneva, June 16, 1972, no. 28)
    1989
    (sale, Hotel President, Geneva, December 3-12, 1989, no. 3159)
    after 1989-before 2008
    Private collection, Paris
    1999
    (Neffe-Degrandt Fine Art, London, sold to private collection, Japan)
    after 1999
    Private collection, Japan
    after 1999-2008
    (Jill Newhouse, New York, NY)
    2008-2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH
    2020-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Chastel, André. Vuillard, 1868–1940. Paris: Floury, 1946. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 71
    Ventes aux enchères publiques. Geneva: Hôtel Président, 1989. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 222–223, no. 3159
    Salomon, Antoine and Guy Cogeval. Vuillard: The Inexhaustible Glance, Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels. Paris: Wildenstein, 2003. Mentioned and reproduced: vol. II, p. 985, no. VIII-345 view.publitas.com
    Groom, Gloria. "Edouard Vuillard." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 76-101. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 100-101; Mentioned: p. 273-274
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=The Beach at Saint-Jacut|url=false|author=Édouard Vuillard|year=1909|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.143