On a windy, overcast day on the northern coast of France, fishing boats ply the choppy waters. In this unsentimental portrait of a beach near the city of Le Havre, whose skyline is visible in the distance, Bazille recorded the daily activities of people who worked hard to make their living from nature. The Beach at Sainte-Adresse was one of a pair of paintings the artist’s uncle commissioned from him, and the unusual horizontal format resulted from its intended placement over a door.