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(piano music playing)

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Beth: I put myself in the[br]position of these figures

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on this cliff and I almost feel that wind

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whipping around me and my instability

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on this cliff as a result.

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Steven: I can hear the cloth[br]on my shirt just whipping.

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I think we're ready for[br]the sound effects now.

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(wind blowing)

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Not a good idea. Monet doesn't need it.

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We have this brilliant summer day,

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we're on a cliff walk in a seaside resort

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in northwestern France[br]on the English Channel,

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we see these two women[br]... This is just a lovely

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image of people walking[br]on a path in nature.

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Beth: Well, I think the fact[br]that we immediately say,

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"I know what this moment is like"

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is indicative of the[br]fact that Monet is doing

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something that we still do today.

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We go on vacation at the seaside.

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It's lovely to go for a[br]walk along the clifftops

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and feel the wind and look out to the sea.

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Steven: We're still part[br]of the modern world,

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that he lived in and so there[br]is a real sense of immediacy

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and that comes across[br]in the brush strokes.

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So it's his hand moving across the canvas,

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but it's also the wind[br]whipping through the grasses

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at the top of this cliff.

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Beth: And yet all of[br]that is also rounded by

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these two vertical features[br]that we see of the rocks

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that mimic the verticality of the figures.

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Steven: And look how he's[br]used those cliff faces

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to create a sense of the[br]brilliance of the day.

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They are in deep shadow.

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The contrast is so sharp,[br]it reminds us of when

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there's sort of a glare from the sun.

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But even though the[br]painting seems completely

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spontaneous, in fact, it[br]was carefully crafted,

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we know from Monet's letters that when he

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painted these images, and he painted about

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a hundred of them ...

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Beth: Of these scenes[br]of the Normandy coast

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in the early 1880s.

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Steven: He would go back[br]and go back and go back

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to them ... ten ... fifteen,[br]sometimes even twenty times.

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Beth: And so there really[br]are layers of paint

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and when you get up close,[br]you can see those layers.

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There is this conflict[br]between that the spontaneity,

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the momentariness of this[br]scene and the way that he

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really worked to achieve that effect.

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Steven: Let's step up. Let's[br]look really closely at this.

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So sometimes you see areas where[br]the paint is still very fresh.

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Remember, this is oil.[br]It doesn't dry quickly

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and you can see how[br]he's painting wet paint

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on top of wet paint.

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Beth: So if you paint wet paint over wet,

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you're going to smear the under layer.

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Steven: And you can see[br]that, if you look especially

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at the women up on the cliff.

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Look at their dresses.[br]Do you see, for instance,

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in the woman that's close[br]to us, the way in which

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there's that white at the[br]bottom of her dress ... I mean,

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look at the way that the[br]bell of the dress is pushed

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up against the back of her[br]legs, really giving you

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a sense of that wind.

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and then the strokes are actually moving

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in that direction, as well,[br]but look at that way in which

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the white pushes down into the[br]red and picks some of it up.

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So this is wet paint that[br]is pushing other wet paint

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across that surface.

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Beth: We could see that, too,[br]in the figure in the background

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where the white that[br]he's added on top of the

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red color of the parasol is[br]smearing that red under layer.

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Steven: That's right and that[br]is really different from,

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for instance, the horizon line.

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You'll notice that there's a[br]cool almost jade-like green,

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but you'll also notice[br]that there are areas where

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the paint seems to skip[br]over an under layer

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and that under layer of even paler green

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was dry and actually[br]had still ridges in it

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and so when he drew his brush across it,

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it picked up those ridges.

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So this is wet paint over dried.

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Beth: It's just this incredible[br]knowledge of his materials

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and what he needs to[br]do with those materials

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for him to achieve the effect[br]that he wants to achieve.

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Steven: Well, that's right.[br]I think he's there for a

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[freed] to really pay[br]attention to what he's seeing.

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Beth: This is a painting that's[br]about the pleasure of seeing.

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It's a tourist moment.

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These figures are enjoying[br]their walk along the cliff.

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They're looking out at[br]this lovely picturesque

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landscape of cliffs and sea[br]and sky and the clouds moving.

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We have this visual pleasure[br]and they're experiencing

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visual pleasure.

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This is about looking in the modern world,

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a kind of experience of[br]being a middle-class person

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at their leisure on holiday,[br]something that we can all relate to.

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Steven: But painted in[br]a way that brings us in,

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in a wonderfully intimate and direct way,

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so that we feel the wind, too.

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(wind blowing)

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(piano music playing)