The Cliffs at Beg-ar-Fry, Saint-Jean-du-Doigt

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Artist: Maxime Maufra (French, 1861–1918)
Medium: Oil on fabric
Size: Unframed: 60 x 73.3 cm (23 5/8 x 28 7/8 in.)
Culture: France, 19th century
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Maxime Maufra was initially an amateur artist, but in 1883 he gave up a career in business to devote himself entirely to painting. He traveled throughout Normandy and Britany painting sea- and landscapes. During a visit to Pont-Aven in northwestern France in 1890 he met Paul Gauguin and a group of young artists who were inspired by Gauguin’s approaches to color and composition in his art. In particular, Maufra began to translate forms into flat planes of bold color arranged in decorative patterns as seen in this seascape of the Breton coast. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this painting is the way the artist framed the composition at the left with the view of a steep cliff.