GRATALOUP never went to Etretat. He conceived this image as iconic of the period of Impressionism and more particularly of Claude Monet.

This image can be in black and white or polychromatic. It will always be recognized as such.

This series is made in his Parisian studio, which is, for him, another way to free himself from the problem of the atmosphere of a place, especially as regards the colors.

In 1983, a fire broke out in the house he shared with Frances at 22 rue Henri Barbusse. The large canvas of the Contrast of Quantity to Etretat will be miraculously spared; only the back of the canvas will be a little blackened.

"Don’t go to Étretat … It must be considered as my first attitude of working on a motive without the motive."