An original and detailed narrative scene with an unusual perspective of the often depicted cliffs of normandy, the painting is a nice depiction of people at leisure. The title literally translates to “walk with the foot of a cliff in normandy”. The double entendres of walk and foot apply to both the elegant figures and the physical location’s attributes, so we’ll leave the definition to speak for itself, as the artwork does so well.

Much in keeping with his contemporary artists around the french coasts, a grey somber sky is flush with cool depth, and every beach visitor is properly, fully attired. Canes and parasols in hand, they stroll with children or their beloved pets. The foremost couple relax to watch the cutter yacht and several more sailing ships beyond the light-marked stone jetty breakwater. A lone figure prepares a bonfire stack on the beach as well.

Stevens treatment of the different textures of the beach, ocean, chalky cliffs and lush grasses is beautiful to observe in its intended full composition and interesting close-up to the surface. While it’s an impressionistic painting with loose boundaries, he gave a great deal of care to the placement of each touch of the brush. Specifically, even though there are few in the overall composition, his soft, suggestive treatment of the small wild flowers near the couple have the haphazard yet well thought out positioning true to nature. His sky has aggressive, wispy brushstrokes, and the wet sand is slick, applied in smooth layers in some spots with a stroke of a palette knife. This is a well executed painting with desirable subjects.