Countryside at Sainte-Adresse, Normandy, 1862

Forerunner of the impressionism, Jongkind spends the main part of his career in France but remains for ever marked by the Dutch landscapes on the vast horizons where spreads a light of very high quality. After a first formation in The Hague at Andreas Schelfhout, specialist of the outdoor painting, he settles down in Paris to work in Eugène Isabey’s studio. Jongkind executes landscapes on the motive and studies the effects of the light on the sky and on the plans of water.

At the beginning of 1860s, Jongkind spends his summers in Normandy where he meets the young Claude Monet who appreciates particularly the advice of the Dutch: « Il se fit montrer mes esquisses, m’invita à venir travailler avec lui, m’expliqua le comment et le pourquoi de sa manière et compléta par-là l’enseignement que j’avais reçu de Boudin. Il fut à partir de ce moment mon vrai maître et c’est à lui que je dois l’éducation définitive de mon œil. » ⁽¹⁾ ” (He was shown my sketches, invited me to come to work with him, explained me how and why of his way and completed the education which I had received from Boudin. He was from this moment my real guide and it is to him that I owe the definitive education of my eye).

1. F. Thiébault-Sisson, « Claude Monet et les années d’épreuve », Le Temps, 26 novembre 1900, p. 3.[↩]