The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Tide Pool, Mont Saint-Michel, France

1982, printed 1995

William Clift

(American, b. 1944)
America
Gelatin silver print
Image: 16.4 x 22.8 cm (6 7/16 x 9 in.); Paper: 17.5 x 24 cm (6 7/8 x 9 7/16 in.)
Gift of Tom E. Hinson and Diana S. Tittle 2022.62
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

William Clift was a close friend of Georgia O'Keeffe and photographed her numerous times; see 1990.111 and 2019.93.

Description

During visits to France in 1977 and 1981–82, architectural and landscape photographer William Clift photographed in and around the majestic abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel. Mont-Saint-Michel is a tidal island and was originally accessible via a causeway only at low tides. The tide pool in Clift’s photograph echoes the island's isolation from the mainland but with an inversion: the tide pool is composed of rocks and water, and the "water" surrounding it is dry sand.
  • ?-1995
    William Clift (the artist) [1944-], Santa Fe, NM, 1995, to Tom Hinson, Truth or Consequences, NM
    1995-2022
    Tom Hinson, Truth or Consequences, NM, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 6, 2022-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Tide Pool, Mont Saint-Michel, France|url=false|author=William Clift|year=1982, printed 1995|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.62