A row of fishing boats rests on the pebbled shore, their hulls painted in dark and bright colors, with one striking blue boat positioned in the foreground to the right. Near the center-left, three fishermen stand and converse beside a boat, their figures rendered with brisk, shadowed brushstrokes that hint at their working clothes and postures. A little farther along the beach, two figures sit on the shoreline: a man in a dark suit and hat peers through a telescope, while a woman in a straw hat with a red ribbon sits beside him, her presence marked by touches of red and yellow paint.

Beyond them, several dark-sailed fishing boats drift across the turquoise water, their sails echoed by more vessels in the distance, all beneath a sky thick with textured, shifting clouds. The light is diffused by the overcast sky, softening the scene and creating subtle contrasts between the cool tones of the water, the pale beach, and the darker boats and figures. The paint is applied in loose, visible strokes, especially in the sky and water, giving the scene a sense of movement and atmosphere.

Small details, such as the nets and baskets near the boats and the gentle ripples in the water, add to the sense of daily life along the coast. Claude Monet painted The Beach at Sainte-Adresse in 1867 during a summer stay with his aunt in this seaside suburb of Le Havre. Monet began the work outdoors and later reworked it in his studio, painting over earlier figures and yachts to focus attention on the fishermen and their boats. Conservation research by the Art Institute of Chicago has shown that Monet revised the composition, removing additional tourists and yachts to emphasize the local fishing community. The Beach at Sainte-Adresse was first shown at the second Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1876, nearly a decade after it was painted.

The painting was acquired by several collectors, including Durand-Ruel and possibly Jean-Baptiste Faure, before entering the Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection and eventually the Art Institute of Chicago.