Press release
Monet on the Normandy Coast.The Discovery of Étretat
19 MARCH – 5 JULY 2026
Exhibition Annex
Press Preview: Tuesday, 17 March 2026, 11.00 am
A coast becomes a myth: the cliffs of Étretat, located in Normandy on the Atlantic coast, captivated numerous artists in the 19th century. From 19 March to 5 July 2026, the Städel Museum will present a major exhibition dedicated to the artistic discovery of the former fishing village of Étretat and its influence on modern painting. Around 170 exceptional paintings, drawings, photographs and historical documents on loan from leading French, German and other international museums as well as several private collections will be on display in Frankfurt. Among them are no fewer than twenty-four works by Claude Monet.
Curators: Alexander Eiling (Head of Modern Art, Städel Museum), Eva Mongi-Vollmer (Curator, Städel Museum), Stéphane Paccoud (Chief Curator of 19th-Century Paintings and Sculptures, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon), Isolde Pludermacher (General Curator of Paintings, Musée d’Orsay, Paris)
Project Managers: Eva-Maria Höllerer (Curator, Städel Museum) and Nelly Janotka (Assistant Curator, Städel Museum)
Sponsored by: Fraport AG, Fontana Foundation, Städelscher Museums-Verein e. V.
Marketing and Media Partners: City of Frankfurt am Main – Department of Culture and Science, Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH, Ströer Deutsche Städte Medien GmbH, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, arte
You can find the full press release here as a PDF.