Exhibitions | Städel Museum

Monet on the Normandy Coast. The Discovery of Étretat

19 Mar 2026 TO 5 July 2026
Exhibition Annex

Press texts

Press release

Monet on the Normandy Coast. The Discovery of Étretat
19 MARCH – 5 JULY 2026
Exhibition Annex

The coastal town of Étretat has become a myth—and continues to fascinate to this day. 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 Around 170 exceptional paintings, drawings, photographs and historical documents on loan from leading French, German and other international museums as well as several private collections will be on display in Frankfurt.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.

Étretat played an important role in the emergence of a new style of painting that went down in art history as Impressionism. The artists were particularly interested in the distinctive cliff landscape, which they found both excitingly beautiful and threatening. Painters and writers travelled to Étretat, and it was through their works that this remote place became famous beyond France’s borders. Following an increase in tourism around 1850, Étretat developed into a popular seaside resort and meeting place for artists, intellectuals and the Parisian bourgeoisie. Gustave Courbet painted his famous wave pictures here; Guy de Maupassant elevated Étretat to a place of longing in his writing; and Maurice Leblanc’s fictional gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin, hoarded his treasures here. The aspiring painter Claude Monet was so fascinated by the unique cliffs and their three rock arches—the Porte d’Amont, the Porte d’Aval and the Manneporte—that he dedicated several paintings to them. Impressed by the ever-changing light and weather conditions, Monet began painting series of motifs in Étretat for the first time, a working method that would later become his trademark.

In addition to works by Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet and Henri Matisse, the exhibition brings together a host of other important figures in modern and contemporary art, including Johann Wilhelm Schirmer and Eugène Le Poittevin, as well as Camille Corot, Eugène Boudin and Elger Esser. Together, the works illustrate the enduring fascination that this place continues to exert to this day. Loans come from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, among others.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum, emphasizes: “With our major special exhibition in spring 2026, we are for the first time dedicating ourselves to exploring the emergence of the myth of Étretat. This coastal town, with its striking rock formations and unique light, has been a source of fascination for artists since the 19th century, and continues to captivate to this day. It was in Étretat that Claude Monet developed his famous serial depiction of motifs, which had a decisive influence on Impressionism. We are particularly proud that two outstanding works from the Städel Collection, which were created in Étretat, form the starting point of the exhibition: Monet’s Luncheon and Gustave Courbet’s The Wave. These are complemented by high-calibre international loans, including twenty-four works by Monet alone. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all lenders and our sponsors for their generous support. We look forward to exploring the enduring fascination of Étretat together with our visitors.”

“In the hundred years or so from Romanticism to Classical Modernism, the artistic view of the impressive coastal landscape around the small town of Étretat underwent multifaceted change. The spectrum ranges from atmospheric watercolour and oil studies to early photographs and Claude Monet’s famous paintings of the impressive cliffs. With its distinctive coastal landscape, Étretat was a magnet for artists of several generations. In collaboration with the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, it was a central concern of ours to place Courbet’s epoch-making wave paintings and Monet’s serial landscape paintings in a broader context and to highlight Étretat’s significance for modern art,” explain Alexander Eiling and Eva Mongi-Vollmer, curators of the exhibition at the Städel Museum.

Curators: Alexander Eiling (Head of Modern Art, Städel Museum), Eva Mongi-Vollmer (Curator, Städel Museum), Stéphane Paccoud (Conservateur en chef, Peintures et sculptures du XIXe siècle, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon) and Isolde Pludermacher (Conservatrice générale peinture, Musée d’Orsay, Paris) in cooperation with Eva-Maria Höllerer (Curator, Städel Museum) and Nelly Janotka (Assistant Curator, Städel Museum)

Sponsored by: Fraport AG, Fontana Foundation, Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V., City of Frankfurt am Main – Department of Culture and Science
Marketing and Media Partners: Alnatura, Ströer Deutsche Städte Medien GmbH, Elisabethen Quelle, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, arte

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PRESSEINFORMATION
ELMGREEN & DRAGSET. STILLLEBEN MIT GEMÜSE
20 MAY 2026 to 17 JANUARY 2027
Städel Museum
Press Preview: Tuesday, 19 May 2026, 11.00 am

Elmgreen & Dragset (Michael Elmgreen, b. 1961 and Ingar Dragset, b. 1969) have been collaborating since the mid-1990s and are among some of the most influential contemporary artists working today. While often being referred to as sculptors, the artists work in an expanded field that also includes installation, performance and architecture. Their works challenge familiar spatial structures and imbue both public and institutional spaces with a distinctive atmosphere. From 20 May 2026 to 17 January 2027, the Berlin-based artist duo will transform the Städel Museum into a fascinating interplay of reality and illusion. The exhibition “Stillleben mit Gemüse” presents sculptures and installations by the artists that enter into a dialogue with the architecture and the permanent collection of the Städel Museum, which spans over 700 years, opening up new perspectives.

Elmgreen & Dragset situate their figurative sculptures in such a way that they invite the audience to participate in an active game of storytelling. By redirecting and shifting the visitor’s gaze, the artists bring everyday moments that are easily overlooked into focus and turn these into poetic scenes charged with both criticality and humour. Through their elaborate sense of display, they are able to deal with serious questions about social structures, behavioural patterns rooted in conventions and institutional routines in an engaging rather than didactic way. The artist duo also examines how the museum itself shapes our perception of art history. They subtly subvert traditional forms of presentation and play with the rules of exhibition making.

Unlike other exhibitions, “Stillleben mit Gemüse” extends across the entire Städel Museum. Two immersive installations in the Contemporary Art Collection form the core of the presentation, which unfolds throughout the historic collections and into the neighbouring Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung. The exhibition places the visitors at the centre by inviting them to embark on a treasure hunt where artworks can be discovered in unusual places, often in almost absurd dialogue with the works from the collection.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum, on the exhibition: “The Städel Museum is internationally renowned for its outstanding collection, which since 2020 also includes the bronze sculpture Si par une nuit d’hiver un voyageur by Elmgreen & Dragset, currently on display in the garden. I am therefore even more delighted that we are now able to present this internationally acclaimed artist duo with a comprehensive exhibition at the Städel. With subtle humour and the ability to unfold grand narratives through minimal interventions, Elmgreen & Dragset transform our view of the collection—from the Old Masters through Modernism to the present day—and offer our visitors truly extraordinary moments as they make their way through the museum.”

Svenja Grosser, curator of the exhibition and Head of Contemporary Art: “Elmgreen & Dragset succeed in making familiar museum structures experienceable anew through nuanced shifts. Through their targeted interventions, they open up interstitial spaces and question habitual perspectives and expectations. The exhibition centres around two large-scale installations, The Cloud and Garden of Eden, which cast a critical eye on the tensions between labour and luxury, ambition and illusion. The museum becomes a stage for their artistic practice, where nothing is as clear-cut as it first appears.”

Curator: Svenja Grosser (Head of Contemporary Art, Städel Museum)
Project Manager: Maja Lisewski (Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art., Städel Museum)
Sponsored by: Gemeinnützige Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain GmbH, SEB, Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V.
With additional support from: New Carlsberg Foundation, Danish Arts Foundation
Media Partner: Monopol – Magazin für Kunst und Leben, Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main

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Timeline "Monet on the Normandy Coast. The Discovery of Étretat"

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Wall texts "Monet on the Normandy Coast. The Discovery of Étretat“

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PRESS RELEASE

Exhibition Preview 2026 and Outlook 2027

MONET ON THE NORMANDY COAST. THE DISCOVERY OF ÉTRETAT, BRUEGEL’S FANTASTIC WORLDS, NEW PERSPECTIVES WITH ELMGREEN & DRAGSET, SKIN IN ART ON PAPER, MAJOR EXHIBITION ON MARY MAGDALENE AND 2027 TO THE GARDEN OF PARADISE

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PRESS RELEASE

ASTA GRÖTING. A WOLF, PRIMATES AND A BREATHING CURVE

5 SEPTEMBER 2025 TO 12 APRIL 2026
Collection of Contemporary Art
Press Preview: Friday, 5 September 2025, 9.30 am

Intimate moments and closeness characterize the multifaceted work of the German artist Asta Gröting (b. 1961). Originally and still working as a sculptor, she has expanded her artistic practice to include film and video. She has been one of the most influential figures in contemporary German art since the 1990s. In her work, she renders the invisible visible by focusing on processes that often go unnoticed in everyday life, as well as on interpersonal relationships. From 5 September 2025 to 12 April 2026, the Städel Museum will present a solo exhibition of the artist’s work in its Collection of Contemporary Art, featuring eight works created between 2015 and 2025, including seven video works and one laser projection specially developed for the exhibition. This selection enables visitors to experience the fluid transitions between nature and culture, intimacy and distance, the familiar and the foreign. The videos capture or stage moments from Gröting’s own environment and human existence. Her deliberate manipulation of time lends the works a particular intensity. The films are more than visual representations of our environment: they open up contemplative spaces that encourage reflection on the intricacies of hidden relationships and their dynamics.
Through her work, Gröting shows how art can act as a medium for interpersonal connections by capturing intimate and intense encounters. Her sensitive translation of captivating moments into moving images invites viewers to explore the subtle, often hidden liminal states of existence, and experience the poetry of the moment anew. Highlights of the exhibition include the work Breathing Curve (2025), created especially for the exhibition, and the premiere of her latest video work, Matthias, Helge and Asta (2025), featuring Matthias Brandt, Helge Schneider and Asta Gröting herself as protagonists.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum: “Asta Gröting’s films reveal the visual poetry of our everyday lives through precise observation and give space to the hidden. The Städel has owned the sculptural work We, We, We, You, You, I (1994) by the artist since 2019. With this exhibition, we are deliberately placing an emphasis on the artist’s video art. Gröting’s work represents an artistic practice that addresses social and existential issues in a multilayered way. Her video art explores the boundaries between staging and everyday life by developing traditional narrative forms further. It thus ideally complements the profile of the Collection of Contemporary Art at the Städel Museum.”

“In her work, Asta Gröting focuses on things that often escape our attention, such as subtle gestures of everyday life, empty spaces and the relationships between humans and animals. The works on display are based on precise observations, in which the artist shifts meanings and condenses sensations. Gröting’s intense video works focus on the seemingly invisible, as well as on psychological processes, rendering them tangible for viewers. Her concentrated reflections question our communication, our environment, and our perception. Without providing clear answers, she creates an open space for personal feelings,” adds Svenja Grosser, Head of Contemporary Art at the Städel Museum and curator of the exhibition.

Curator: Svenja Grosser (Head of Contemporary Art, Städel Museum)
Project Manager: Gioia Mattner (Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Städel Museum)

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Press images

Elmgreen & Dragset
The Conversation, 2024
Silicone figure, clothing, iPhone, chair
Dimensions variable
Courtesy: the artists
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025
Photo by: Elmar Vestner

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Elmgreen & Dragset, The Conversation, 2024

Elmgreen & Dragset
Garden of Eden, 2022
Wood, aluminum, fabric, monitors, keyboards, mouses, office chairs, miscellaneous
Dimensions variable
Courtesy: Fondazione Prada, Milan
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025
Photos by: Andrea

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Garden of Eden, 2022

Elmgreen & Dragset
Garden of Eden, 2022
Wood, aluminum, fabric, monitors, keyboards, mouses, office chairs, miscellaneous Dimensions variable

Courtesy: Fondazione Prada, Milan

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Garden of Eden, 2022

The Visitor with Stillleben mit Gemüse

Elmgreen & Dragset
The Visitor, 2025
Bronze, lacquer
178 x 61 x 33.5 cm

Cornelis de Heem
Stillleben mit Gemüse und Früchten vor einer Gartenbalustrade, 1658
Oil on copper
69,8 x 87,1 cm
Städel Museum

Photo by: Studio Elmgreen & Dragset
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025

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The Visitor with Stillleben mit Gemüse

Elmgreen & Dragset
The Visitor, 2025
Bronze, lacquer
178 x 61 x 33,5 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Foto: Elmar Vestner

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Elmgreen & Dragset, The Visitor, 2025

Elmgreen & Dragset
The Visitor, 2025
Bronze, lacquer
178 x 61 x 33,5 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Foto: Elmar Vestner

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Elmgreen & Dragset, The Visitor, 2025

Elmgreen & Dragset
Still Life (Bullfinch), 2024
Bronze, lacquer and animatronic bird
7 x 14 x 23 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Photo: Elmar Vestner

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Still Life (Bullfinch), 2024

Elmgreen & Dragset
60 Minutes, 2025
Bronze and Patina
158.5 x 59 x 85.5 cm
Courtesy of Pace Gallery & Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin/Paris/London/Marfa
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Photo: def image

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Elmgreen & Dragset, 60 Minutes, 2025

Elmgreen & Dragset
Social Media (Terrier), 2022
Brushed stainless steel, lacquer, motor, resin and faux fur
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Photo: Elmar Vestner

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Social Media (Terrier), 2022

Elmgreen & Dragset
Photo: Elmar Vestner

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Elmgreen & Dragset

Exhibition view „Monet on the Normandy Coast. The Discovery of Étretat“
Photo: Städel Museum – Norbert Miguletz

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