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The Cliffs at Beg-ar-Fry, Saint-Jean-du-Doigt
Also known as: The Slopes of the Bay, Beg-ar-Fry
About the Artwork
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.
Inscriptions
Signed lower left: Maufra 95
Provenance
Deposited by Maufra on 25 February 1895 at Durand-Ruel, Paris (depot 8630). Bought from the artist by Durand-Ruel, Paris (stock number 3451) on 23 November 1895. Sold to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock number 1455), 14 December 1895. Bought by Jeptha Homer Wade, Cleveland, 1 November 1900 . By descent. Given to the CMA in 1966.
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Maxime Maufra (French, 1861–1918)
- Date
- 1895
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Framed: 66.5 x 80 x 4.5 cm (26 3/16 x 31 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 60 x 73.3 cm (23 5/8 x 28 7/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Ellen Wade Chinn, Elizabeth Wade Sedgwick and J. H. Wade III in memory of their mother Irene Love Wade
- Accession no.
- 1966.382
More by Maxime Maufra in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009716
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