The development of tourism
The seaside vacation had its origins in the presumed recuperative and restorative value of salt water. Originally, inland spas such as Vichy would have cured the physical or mental ailments of stressed city dwellers. Now immersion in seawater was felt to be equally beneficial, and as the railways opened up access to the Channel coast, more and more Parisians flocked to the growing number of resorts. In their mind’s eye they brought images of the sea or of the native inhabitants provided by painters who had explored the locality many years before. Their arrival changed the environment drastically as hotels, villas and casinos were built to cater for their needs. The casino offered not only the opportunity to gamble, but provided dance halls and theatres, rooms for other games, for reading, for dining and areas for children.
Eugène Isabey, The Beach at Granville, 1863. Oil on canvas, 83 x 124cm Musee du Vieux-Chateau, Laval
For the local inhabitants, who earned their living from the sea, this influx provided both problems and opportunities. In an area with few natural harbours fishermen used the beaches to store their boats and equipment. Their wives washed clothes in fresh-water streams, harvested shellfish or sorted the fish for market. Guide books described native costumes, or exotic religious practices to counter the dangers of the sea, and tourists were encouraged to observe the picturesque before returning to the safety of their hotels or villas. While sensing that they were ‘on view’, and in some cases actively encouraged to maintain local traditions, the native inhabitants found opportunities for employment on the beach as attendants and life guards or in the hotels and casinos.
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This text is abridged from the Royal Academy Education Department's guide
Impressionists by the Sea: An Introduction to the Exhibition (712 KB)
, by Greg Harris.
