Decade 1870-1879
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Art on paper France Paris Monet < 1879 Manet Caillebotte Degas Renoir Self portrait II Children Groups Music and dance Cities Venice Sport in art Origins of sports Horse
See also : Art on paper France Paris Monet < 1879 Manet Caillebotte Degas Renoir Self portrait II Children Groups Music and dance Cities Venice Sport in art Origins of sports Horse
masterpiece
1871 Arrangement en Gris et Noir (la Mère de l'Artiste) by Whistler
Musée d'Orsay
James McNeill Whistler's works are relatively rare at major auctions, particularly high-quality oil paintings, for several key reasons:
Harmony in Grey and Green: Chelsea in Ice (also known as Harmony in Grey, Chelsea in Ice), 1864
Sold for $2,866,000 (Christie's New York, 2000)
This remains the longstanding record for a Whistler painting, a tonal winter landscape of the Thames.
Whistler's top prices remain modest compared to peers like Monet or Sargent (whose works routinely exceed $10M+), reflecting his niche appeal and supply constraints. Major new appearances often set personal bests due to rarity.
- Limited production of major oils — Whistler was a meticulous, slow-working artist who produced relatively few finished oil paintings (estimates suggest only around 200–300 oils in his lifetime, many small or unfinished). He prioritized quality, tonal harmony, and experimentation over volume, and he destroyed or reworked many pieces.
- Museum and institutional holdings — A significant portion of his most important works (e.g., Nocturnes like Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, Symphony in White series, major portraits) are held in major public collections such as the Freer Gallery (Smithsonian), Tate Britain, Musée d'Orsay, Art Institute of Chicago, and the Frick Collection. These rarely, if ever, come to market due to deaccession policies or donor restrictions.
- Private collections and long-term ownership — Many surviving oils remain in private hands with multi-generational ownership, often not offered publicly for decades (e.g., recent sales like Portrait of Lucas Alexander Ionides in 2025 emerged after 60+ years off-market). Whistler's financial troubles led to some dispersals (e.g., 1880 bankruptcy auction), but top pieces were acquired by dedicated patrons like Charles Lang Freer or Richard Canfield and stayed private.
- Preference for prints and works on paper — Whistler was prolific in etchings, lithographs, and pastels (thousands exist), which appear more frequently at auction and achieve lower prices. Major oils are scarcer and command premiums when fresh to market.
- Market dynamics — His aesthetic (subtle, atmospheric, "art for art's sake") appeals to niche connoisseurs rather than broad buyers, and prices have not escalated as dramatically as for Impressionists or modernists, keeping supply low as owners hold for investment or affection.
Harmony in Grey and Green: Chelsea in Ice (also known as Harmony in Grey, Chelsea in Ice), 1864
Sold for $2,866,000 (Christie's New York, 2000)
This remains the longstanding record for a Whistler painting, a tonal winter landscape of the Thames.
Whistler's top prices remain modest compared to peers like Monet or Sargent (whose works routinely exceed $10M+), reflecting his niche appeal and supply constraints. Major new appearances often set personal bests due to rarity.
masterpiece
1871 The Apotheosis of War by Vereshchagin
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin was the most famous Russian painter of his time. His work was exhibited in London, St. Petersburg, and throughout Europe. He was best known for his military scenes, but his humanistic rendering of the realities of war displeased the court and hampered his official career. The image of The Apotheosis of War is shared by Wikimedia.
He was also a tireless traveler. He died of his dual passion for war and travel during the siege of Port Arthur.
He had been in 1864 a pupil of Gérôme in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and his travel paintings belong to the Orientalist trend with an attention to detail, light and color. His themes are educative in a desire of provoking thought. He managed to open his solo exhibitions to broad audiences.
Grok thought :
Quote
Un Cuadro Al Día @UnCuadroAlDia Jun 12, 2017
La Apoteosis de la guerra. Vasili Vereshchaguin. 1871. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow #Art #FelizLunes #Moscu #NuevaSemana
He was also a tireless traveler. He died of his dual passion for war and travel during the siege of Port Arthur.
He had been in 1864 a pupil of Gérôme in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and his travel paintings belong to the Orientalist trend with an attention to detail, light and color. His themes are educative in a desire of provoking thought. He managed to open his solo exhibitions to broad audiences.
Grok thought :
Quote
Un Cuadro Al Día @UnCuadroAlDia Jun 12, 2017
La Apoteosis de la guerra. Vasili Vereshchaguin. 1871. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow #Art #FelizLunes #Moscu #NuevaSemana
- Vasily Vereshchagin's 1871 painting "The Apotheosis of War" depicts a surreal pyramid of human skulls in a barren desert, symbolizing war's futility and dedicated to conquerors worldwide.
- As a Russian war artist who served in conflicts like the Russo-Turkish War, Vereshchagin used the canvas to critique glorification of violence, drawing from eyewitness horrors to evoke anti-war sentiment.
- Posted by @UnCuadroAlDia to highlight painting history on a Monday, the image's grim crows and ruins prompted shocked appreciation in replies, underscoring its timeless relevance to ongoing global conflicts.
MONET
1
masterpiece
1872 Impression Soleil Levant
Musée Marmottan
Claude Monet was not a theorist. He progressed by releasing his emotion. The Impression soleil levant painted in 1872 fades within the fog the real features of the view. This painting is a burst of intuition and is described in the history of art as the cornerstone of Impressionnisme.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise), painted by Claude Monet in 1872, is one of the most iconic works in art history. Housed at the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, this small oil on canvas (about 48 x 63 cm) depicts the port of Le Havre, Monet's hometown in Normandy, at dawn. The hazy scene captures the rising sun as an orange-red orb piercing through misty industrial vapors, with boats and cranes loosely suggested through rapid brushstrokes.
Here’s a focused overview of the artist's motivation and influences, its breakthrough, and its enduring legacy.
Artist's Motivation and Influences
Monet painted Impression, Soleil Levant during a visit to Le Havre in late 1872 (likely November), working quickly from a hotel window overlooking the harbor. His primary motivation was to capture the fleeting effects of light, atmosphere, and color at a specific moment—here, the misty dawn enveloping the modern, industrial port. Rather than a detailed, realistic representation, he aimed to convey his immediate impression of the scene: the play of orange and blue tones, reflections on water, and the vaporous haze from steamboat smoke and morning fog.
This approach stemmed from Monet's evolving plein air (outdoor) practice and rejection of academic finish. Key influences include:
Breakthrough
The painting debuted in April 1874 at the first exhibition of the Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres (held in Nadar's studio), organized by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Sisley, and others as an alternative to the conservative Salon. Critics mocked the show, but Monet's work drew particular scorn.
Satirical critic Louis Leroy, in Le Charivari, sarcastically titled his review "The Exhibition of the Impressionists," riffing on Monet's title to deride the loose, unfinished style: "Impression—I was certain of it... Wallpaper in an embryonic state is more finished than that seascape." Though meant as mockery, the term "Impressionism" stuck—first negatively, then proudly adopted by the artists and supporters like Jules Castagnary.
This marked the official naming and public breakthrough of Impressionism as a movement, emphasizing perception, light, color, and modern subjects over academic precision.
Legacy
Impression, Soleil Levant is widely regarded as the founding work of Impressionism, encapsulating its core principles: spontaneity, en plein air painting, broken brushwork, and focus on momentary sensations. It shifted art toward subjective experience and paved the way for modernism.
The painting's journey includes ownership changes, a dramatic theft from the Musée Marmottan in 1985 (recovered in 1990), and exhibitions worldwide. It remains the jewel of the Musée Marmottan Monet's collection, which holds the world's largest Monet ensemble.
Its influence endures in how we view light, color, and perception in art—shaping Post-Impressionism, abstraction, and beyond. Monet later revisited similar titles (e.g., other "impressions"), but this one forever defined an era.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise), painted by Claude Monet in 1872, is one of the most iconic works in art history. Housed at the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, this small oil on canvas (about 48 x 63 cm) depicts the port of Le Havre, Monet's hometown in Normandy, at dawn. The hazy scene captures the rising sun as an orange-red orb piercing through misty industrial vapors, with boats and cranes loosely suggested through rapid brushstrokes.
Here’s a focused overview of the artist's motivation and influences, its breakthrough, and its enduring legacy.
Artist's Motivation and Influences
Monet painted Impression, Soleil Levant during a visit to Le Havre in late 1872 (likely November), working quickly from a hotel window overlooking the harbor. His primary motivation was to capture the fleeting effects of light, atmosphere, and color at a specific moment—here, the misty dawn enveloping the modern, industrial port. Rather than a detailed, realistic representation, he aimed to convey his immediate impression of the scene: the play of orange and blue tones, reflections on water, and the vaporous haze from steamboat smoke and morning fog.
This approach stemmed from Monet's evolving plein air (outdoor) practice and rejection of academic finish. Key influences include:
- Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind, who encouraged Monet's early focus on skies, sea, and transient weather effects through direct observation.
- The Barbizon School (e.g., Rousseau, Millet), which emphasized natural landscapes and outdoor sketching.
- Japanese prints (ukiyo-e by artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige), which Monet collected; their flattened perspectives, bold cropping, and atmospheric water depictions echo in the composition's simplicity and blending of elements.
- Exposure to Turner and Claude Lorrain during Monet's 1870–1871 stay in London, reinforcing his interest in light and mood over precise form.
Breakthrough
The painting debuted in April 1874 at the first exhibition of the Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres (held in Nadar's studio), organized by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Sisley, and others as an alternative to the conservative Salon. Critics mocked the show, but Monet's work drew particular scorn.
Satirical critic Louis Leroy, in Le Charivari, sarcastically titled his review "The Exhibition of the Impressionists," riffing on Monet's title to deride the loose, unfinished style: "Impression—I was certain of it... Wallpaper in an embryonic state is more finished than that seascape." Though meant as mockery, the term "Impressionism" stuck—first negatively, then proudly adopted by the artists and supporters like Jules Castagnary.
This marked the official naming and public breakthrough of Impressionism as a movement, emphasizing perception, light, color, and modern subjects over academic precision.
Legacy
Impression, Soleil Levant is widely regarded as the founding work of Impressionism, encapsulating its core principles: spontaneity, en plein air painting, broken brushwork, and focus on momentary sensations. It shifted art toward subjective experience and paved the way for modernism.
The painting's journey includes ownership changes, a dramatic theft from the Musée Marmottan in 1985 (recovered in 1990), and exhibitions worldwide. It remains the jewel of the Musée Marmottan Monet's collection, which holds the world's largest Monet ensemble.
Its influence endures in how we view light, color, and perception in art—shaping Post-Impressionism, abstraction, and beyond. Monet later revisited similar titles (e.g., other "impressions"), but this one forever defined an era.
Japanese Ukiyo-e Influences on Claude Monet and Impression, Soleil Levant
(with special attention to Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa)
The Japanese woodblock print tradition of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") profoundly influenced Claude Monet and the birth of Impressionism in the late 19th century. This cross-cultural exchange, known as Japonisme, surged after Japan reopened to Western trade in the 1850s–1860s, flooding Europe with affordable, vibrant prints by masters such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kitagawa Utamaro.
Monet became one of the movement's most passionate collectors, eventually owning over 200 prints—many still preserved in his Giverny home—including numerous works by Hokusai and Hiroshige. He first encountered ukiyo-e around 1871 (possibly in Amsterdam, where prints were used as wrapping paper), and their radical aesthetic offered a liberating alternative to Western academic conventions: flat color planes, bold outlines, asymmetrical compositions, cropped perspectives, emphasis on transient atmospheric effects, and a focus on fleeting moments of nature and modern life rather than idealized historical or narrative subjects.
Key Ukiyo-e Influences on Impression, Soleil Levant (1872)
Monet's painting of the misty Le Havre harbor at dawn—where an orange-red sun pierces through industrial haze—was driven primarily by his plein air practice and desire to capture ephemeral light and atmosphere. Yet ukiyo-e principles subtly reinforced and amplified his approach.
Hokusai's masterpiece from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji—a towering, claw-like wave crashing over boats with Mount Fuji serene in the distance—is one of the most iconic ukiyo-e prints.
While Impression, Soleil Levant depicts a calm, hazy dawn rather than a stormy sea, Hokusai's wave contributed indirectly but powerfully to Monet's evolving style:
Broader Legacy in Monet's Oeuvre
Ukiyo-e's influence extended far beyond this single painting. Monet's later serial works (haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, water lilies) echo Hokusai's repeated views of Mount Fuji under changing conditions and Hiroshige's seasonal landscapes. Monet even designed his Giverny garden with a Japanese bridge and imported plants, painting it repeatedly in ways that evoke ukiyo-e bridges and atmospheric nature scenes.
In essence, Japanese prints—led by Hokusai's dramatic Great Wave and Hiroshige's subtle atmospheres—helped Monet (and Impressionism) embrace subjective perception, momentary sensation, pure color, and modern subjects. This transformative exchange remains one of the most significant in modern art history, with Impression, Soleil Levant standing as the movement's founding emblem.
(with special attention to Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa)
The Japanese woodblock print tradition of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") profoundly influenced Claude Monet and the birth of Impressionism in the late 19th century. This cross-cultural exchange, known as Japonisme, surged after Japan reopened to Western trade in the 1850s–1860s, flooding Europe with affordable, vibrant prints by masters such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kitagawa Utamaro.
Monet became one of the movement's most passionate collectors, eventually owning over 200 prints—many still preserved in his Giverny home—including numerous works by Hokusai and Hiroshige. He first encountered ukiyo-e around 1871 (possibly in Amsterdam, where prints were used as wrapping paper), and their radical aesthetic offered a liberating alternative to Western academic conventions: flat color planes, bold outlines, asymmetrical compositions, cropped perspectives, emphasis on transient atmospheric effects, and a focus on fleeting moments of nature and modern life rather than idealized historical or narrative subjects.
Key Ukiyo-e Influences on Impression, Soleil Levant (1872)
Monet's painting of the misty Le Havre harbor at dawn—where an orange-red sun pierces through industrial haze—was driven primarily by his plein air practice and desire to capture ephemeral light and atmosphere. Yet ukiyo-e principles subtly reinforced and amplified his approach.
- Atmospheric haze, mist, and blending of elements — The vaporous merging of sky, water, and steamboat smoke echoes Hiroshige's masterful gradations in dawn and foggy harbor scenes, where soft, diffused light and minimal detail create poetic ambiguity.
- Economy of means and suggestion over precise detail — Monet evokes boats, masts, and water reflections with rapid, loose brushstrokes and mere squiggles—mirroring how ukiyo-e artists used minimal lines to imply forms, waves, or figures, aligning with Impressionism's rejection of academic finish.
- Asymmetrical composition, cropping, and immediacy — The off-center sun and boats pushed to the edges create a snapshot-like feel, reminiscent of ukiyo-e's unconventional framing and negative space.
- Bold color contrasts and non-naturalistic palettes — Monet's vivid orange sun against blue-gray haze reflects ukiyo-e's innovative use of flat, pure colors (notably Prussian blue in many prints) to convey mood and light over realism.
Hokusai's masterpiece from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji—a towering, claw-like wave crashing over boats with Mount Fuji serene in the distance—is one of the most iconic ukiyo-e prints.
While Impression, Soleil Levant depicts a calm, hazy dawn rather than a stormy sea, Hokusai's wave contributed indirectly but powerfully to Monet's evolving style:
- Dynamic water and captured movement — Hokusai renders the wave's frothing energy and swirling forms with fluid, curving lines and suggestion, prioritizing motion over meticulous detail. Monet applies a similar economy to imply rippling water and harbor traffic.
- Dramatic asymmetry and tension — The wave's off-center dominance and tiny boats below create immediate, visceral impact—paralleling Monet's cropped, off-balance framing that conveys a fleeting "captured moment."
- Themes of transience and nature's power amid human activity — Both works blend ephemeral atmospheric conditions (crashing wave vs. dissolving dawn mist) with everyday human elements (boats in peril vs. industrial harbor life), reflecting ukiyo-e's celebration of the "floating world" of impermanence.
Broader Legacy in Monet's Oeuvre
Ukiyo-e's influence extended far beyond this single painting. Monet's later serial works (haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, water lilies) echo Hokusai's repeated views of Mount Fuji under changing conditions and Hiroshige's seasonal landscapes. Monet even designed his Giverny garden with a Japanese bridge and imported plants, painting it repeatedly in ways that evoke ukiyo-e bridges and atmospheric nature scenes.
In essence, Japanese prints—led by Hokusai's dramatic Great Wave and Hiroshige's subtle atmospheres—helped Monet (and Impressionism) embrace subjective perception, momentary sensation, pure color, and modern subjects. This transformative exchange remains one of the most significant in modern art history, with Impression, Soleil Levant standing as the movement's founding emblem.
Hiroshige's Misty Seascapes and Their Influence on Claude Monet and Impression, Soleil Levant
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), also known as Andō Hiroshige, stands as one of the greatest masters of ukiyo-e woodblock prints, renowned for his poetic landscapes that capture the transient beauty of nature—especially weather phenomena like mist, fog, rain, snow, and dawn light. Unlike Hokusai's dramatic, bold energy (e.g., The Great Wave), Hiroshige favored softer, atmospheric effects, subtle gradations of color, and evocative moods that convey a sense of impermanence and harmony. His works often depict travel routes, famous views, and everyday scenes enveloped in haze or vapor, making him a key figure in Japonisme's impact on Western art.
Hiroshige produced thousands of prints, with landscapes dominating his output. He excelled at rendering misty seascapes, foggy harbors, dawn mists, and atmospheric marine views, using innovative techniques like bokashi (graduated color printing) to create soft transitions between sky, water, and mist. These elements produce layered, dreamlike scenes where forms dissolve into ambient light and weather.
Notable Misty Seascapes and Atmospheric Prints by Hiroshige
Hiroshige's series frequently feature coastal or riverine scenes shrouded in fog or morning mist:
Influence on Monet and Impression, Soleil Levant (1872)
Monet, who amassed a large collection of Hiroshige prints (alongside Hokusai and others), drew significant inspiration from Hiroshige's atmospheric mastery. While Impression, Soleil Levant captures the industrial port of Le Havre at dawn—orange sun piercing blue-gray industrial haze—scholars frequently cite Hiroshige's misty harbors and dawn seascapes as closer visual and conceptual parallels than Hokusai's stormy waves.
Specific parallels include:
Broader Legacy
Hiroshige's misty seascapes and weather-focused landscapes influenced not only Monet but also Van Gogh (who copied Hiroshige prints) and other Impressionists/Post-Impressionists. His emphasis on poetic atmosphere, serial views under varying conditions, and the "floating world" of impermanence helped shift Western art toward subjective perception and momentary sensation. In Impression, Soleil Levant, Hiroshige's misty dawn harbors find a direct echo, contributing to the painting's revolutionary status as the emblem of a new artistic era.
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), also known as Andō Hiroshige, stands as one of the greatest masters of ukiyo-e woodblock prints, renowned for his poetic landscapes that capture the transient beauty of nature—especially weather phenomena like mist, fog, rain, snow, and dawn light. Unlike Hokusai's dramatic, bold energy (e.g., The Great Wave), Hiroshige favored softer, atmospheric effects, subtle gradations of color, and evocative moods that convey a sense of impermanence and harmony. His works often depict travel routes, famous views, and everyday scenes enveloped in haze or vapor, making him a key figure in Japonisme's impact on Western art.
Hiroshige produced thousands of prints, with landscapes dominating his output. He excelled at rendering misty seascapes, foggy harbors, dawn mists, and atmospheric marine views, using innovative techniques like bokashi (graduated color printing) to create soft transitions between sky, water, and mist. These elements produce layered, dreamlike scenes where forms dissolve into ambient light and weather.
Notable Misty Seascapes and Atmospheric Prints by Hiroshige
Hiroshige's series frequently feature coastal or riverine scenes shrouded in fog or morning mist:
- Mishima: Morning Mist (from the Hoeido Tokaido series, c. 1833–34) — A classic example of dawn fog enveloping a landscape, with soft gradations creating depth and poetic ambiguity.
- Views from series like Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido (1833–34) and Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido — Many include misty rivers, harbors, or coastal crossings at dawn or in fog, blending human activity (ferries, travelers) with dissolving atmospheric effects.
- Mouth of the Aji River in Settsu Province (from Wrestling Matches between Mountains and Seas, 1858) — A late work showing a hazy river mouth or harbor, with mist merging water and sky, closely paralleling harbor compositions.
- Other evocative pieces include dawn views over Edo bays, misty ferries, or coastal fog in series like Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, where mist creates layered, ethereal depth.
Influence on Monet and Impression, Soleil Levant (1872)
Monet, who amassed a large collection of Hiroshige prints (alongside Hokusai and others), drew significant inspiration from Hiroshige's atmospheric mastery. While Impression, Soleil Levant captures the industrial port of Le Havre at dawn—orange sun piercing blue-gray industrial haze—scholars frequently cite Hiroshige's misty harbors and dawn seascapes as closer visual and conceptual parallels than Hokusai's stormy waves.
Specific parallels include:
- Hazy, diffused atmospheres — Hiroshige's use of mist to blend sky, water, and distant elements mirrors the vaporous haze in Monet's painting, where industrial smoke and morning fog dissolve forms into soft gradients.
- Dawn and morning mist effects — Prints like Mishima: Morning Mist or river/harbor dawns feature soft, poetic light and color transitions that evoke Monet's orange sun rising through mist, prioritizing mood over detail.
- Economy and suggestion — Hiroshige's minimal lines for boats or masts in foggy settings align with Monet's loose brushstrokes implying harbor traffic, favoring perceptual impression over precise representation.
- Composition and mood — Both artists capture ephemeral moments of modern or everyday life (travelers/boats in mist) with a sense of tranquility and transience, blending nature's subtlety with human presence.
Broader Legacy
Hiroshige's misty seascapes and weather-focused landscapes influenced not only Monet but also Van Gogh (who copied Hiroshige prints) and other Impressionists/Post-Impressionists. His emphasis on poetic atmosphere, serial views under varying conditions, and the "floating world" of impermanence helped shift Western art toward subjective perception and momentary sensation. In Impression, Soleil Levant, Hiroshige's misty dawn harbors find a direct echo, contributing to the painting's revolutionary status as the emblem of a new artistic era.
Influence of Eugène Boudin, Johan Barthold Jongkind, and the Barbizon School on Claude Monet's Impression, Soleil Levant
Claude Monet's Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise, 1872), the iconic depiction of Le Havre's harbor at dawn now in the Musée Marmottan Monet, emerged from a confluence of influences that shaped his early development and the core principles of Impressionism. While the painting's revolutionary loose brushwork, focus on fleeting atmospheric effects, and emphasis on light over detail built on Monet's direct observation, it owed much to mentors Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind, as well as the broader legacy of the Barbizon School.
These predecessors encouraged plein air (outdoor) painting, attention to transient weather and light, and a rejection of rigid academic finish—foundations that Monet amplified in his misty, industrial sunrise scene.
Eugène Boudin (1824–1898): The Decisive Mentor and Plein Air Pioneer
Boudin, a Normandy-based marine and landscape painter, was Monet's most important early influence and, by Monet's own later admission, his "true master." In 1856–1857, as a teenager in Le Havre, Monet met Boudin, who ran a framing shop and encouraged the young caricaturist to paint outdoors.
Boudin introduced Monet to plein air techniques—painting directly from nature to capture changing light, skies, and sea effects—habits Monet maintained lifelong. Boudin's small-scale beach scenes, seascapes, and studies of cloudy skies and misty horizons emphasized rapid, loose brushwork and atmospheric subtlety over polished detail.
This directly informed Impression, Soleil Levant: Monet painted it quickly from a hotel window to seize the dawn's hazy light piercing industrial fog, echoing Boudin's focus on ephemeral marine atmospheres. Monet's orange sun dissolving into mist and loose suggestions of boats reflect Boudin's economical handling of light and weather in Normandy harbors.
Boudin also painted with Jongkind in Honfleur, reinforcing shared ideas of spontaneity and modern subjects.
Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819–1891): The "True Master" of Light and Atmosphere
The Dutch-French painter Jongkind, known for luminous watercolors and oils of harbors, rivers, and skies, met Monet around 1862 in Le Havre (after Monet's Algerian military service). Monet called him his "true master" for his ability to capture fleeting weather variations with bold, fragmented brushstrokes and vibrant, silvery light.
Jongkind's marine views—often hazy dawns, sunsets, or foggy ports—influenced Monet's rejection of precise form in favor of mood and immediacy. His innovative technique (loose, sketch-like handling and emphasis on reflections) prefigured Impressionist priorities.
In Impression, Soleil Levant, Jongkind's impact appears in the painting's vaporous haze, diffused light, and industrial-modern harbor elements, blending poetic atmosphere with contemporary life. Jongkind's sunrises and sunsets over water, with minimal detail and strong color contrasts, parallel Monet's orange orb piercing blue-gray mist.
Together, Boudin and Jongkind formed the "Honfleur School" circle that nurtured Monet's early plein air practice.
The Barbizon School: Broader Foundations in Naturalism and Outdoor Sketching
The Barbizon School (active 1830s–1870s) artists—Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet, Charles Daubigny, Constant Troyon, and others—painted in the Fontainebleau Forest near Barbizon village, emphasizing direct observation of nature, realistic landscapes, and rural scenes over academic ideals.
They worked en plein air for sketches (though often finishing in studios) and focused on light, atmosphere, and everyday nature—ideas that influenced Monet during his Paris years (1859–1860s). Monet visited Barbizon areas and admired their naturalistic approach, which contrasted with Salon polish.
The term "impressionism" itself predated Monet, describing Barbizon effects (e.g., Daubigny or Manet used it for viewer impact). In Impression, Soleil Levant, this legacy appears in the commitment to perceived reality over idealization, though Monet pushed further: fully outdoor execution, broken color, and subjective "impression" over detailed realism.Barbizon's outdoor ethos and light focus laid groundwork, but Monet radicalized it by completing major works on-site and prioritizing momentary sensation.
Synthesis and Legacy in Impression, Soleil Levant
These influences converged in 1872: Boudin's plein air discipline, Jongkind's atmospheric mastery, and Barbizon naturalism enabled Monet to render Le Havre's dawn haze—industrial smoke blending with mist—as a poetic, perceptual moment rather than a detailed view.
The painting's "unfinished" quality, rapid strokes, and light primacy shocked critics but defined Impressionism. Monet built on these roots to create a new vision: subjective, modern, and ephemeral.
This foundational trio—Boudin as mentor, Jongkind as technical inspiration, Barbizon as philosophical precursor—helped transform Monet from student to revolutionary, with Impression, Soleil Levant as the enduring emblem.
Claude Monet's Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise, 1872), the iconic depiction of Le Havre's harbor at dawn now in the Musée Marmottan Monet, emerged from a confluence of influences that shaped his early development and the core principles of Impressionism. While the painting's revolutionary loose brushwork, focus on fleeting atmospheric effects, and emphasis on light over detail built on Monet's direct observation, it owed much to mentors Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind, as well as the broader legacy of the Barbizon School.
These predecessors encouraged plein air (outdoor) painting, attention to transient weather and light, and a rejection of rigid academic finish—foundations that Monet amplified in his misty, industrial sunrise scene.
Eugène Boudin (1824–1898): The Decisive Mentor and Plein Air Pioneer
Boudin, a Normandy-based marine and landscape painter, was Monet's most important early influence and, by Monet's own later admission, his "true master." In 1856–1857, as a teenager in Le Havre, Monet met Boudin, who ran a framing shop and encouraged the young caricaturist to paint outdoors.
Boudin introduced Monet to plein air techniques—painting directly from nature to capture changing light, skies, and sea effects—habits Monet maintained lifelong. Boudin's small-scale beach scenes, seascapes, and studies of cloudy skies and misty horizons emphasized rapid, loose brushwork and atmospheric subtlety over polished detail.
This directly informed Impression, Soleil Levant: Monet painted it quickly from a hotel window to seize the dawn's hazy light piercing industrial fog, echoing Boudin's focus on ephemeral marine atmospheres. Monet's orange sun dissolving into mist and loose suggestions of boats reflect Boudin's economical handling of light and weather in Normandy harbors.
Boudin also painted with Jongkind in Honfleur, reinforcing shared ideas of spontaneity and modern subjects.
Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819–1891): The "True Master" of Light and Atmosphere
The Dutch-French painter Jongkind, known for luminous watercolors and oils of harbors, rivers, and skies, met Monet around 1862 in Le Havre (after Monet's Algerian military service). Monet called him his "true master" for his ability to capture fleeting weather variations with bold, fragmented brushstrokes and vibrant, silvery light.
Jongkind's marine views—often hazy dawns, sunsets, or foggy ports—influenced Monet's rejection of precise form in favor of mood and immediacy. His innovative technique (loose, sketch-like handling and emphasis on reflections) prefigured Impressionist priorities.
In Impression, Soleil Levant, Jongkind's impact appears in the painting's vaporous haze, diffused light, and industrial-modern harbor elements, blending poetic atmosphere with contemporary life. Jongkind's sunrises and sunsets over water, with minimal detail and strong color contrasts, parallel Monet's orange orb piercing blue-gray mist.
Together, Boudin and Jongkind formed the "Honfleur School" circle that nurtured Monet's early plein air practice.
The Barbizon School: Broader Foundations in Naturalism and Outdoor Sketching
The Barbizon School (active 1830s–1870s) artists—Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet, Charles Daubigny, Constant Troyon, and others—painted in the Fontainebleau Forest near Barbizon village, emphasizing direct observation of nature, realistic landscapes, and rural scenes over academic ideals.
They worked en plein air for sketches (though often finishing in studios) and focused on light, atmosphere, and everyday nature—ideas that influenced Monet during his Paris years (1859–1860s). Monet visited Barbizon areas and admired their naturalistic approach, which contrasted with Salon polish.
The term "impressionism" itself predated Monet, describing Barbizon effects (e.g., Daubigny or Manet used it for viewer impact). In Impression, Soleil Levant, this legacy appears in the commitment to perceived reality over idealization, though Monet pushed further: fully outdoor execution, broken color, and subjective "impression" over detailed realism.Barbizon's outdoor ethos and light focus laid groundwork, but Monet radicalized it by completing major works on-site and prioritizing momentary sensation.
Synthesis and Legacy in Impression, Soleil Levant
These influences converged in 1872: Boudin's plein air discipline, Jongkind's atmospheric mastery, and Barbizon naturalism enabled Monet to render Le Havre's dawn haze—industrial smoke blending with mist—as a poetic, perceptual moment rather than a detailed view.
The painting's "unfinished" quality, rapid strokes, and light primacy shocked critics but defined Impressionism. Monet built on these roots to create a new vision: subjective, modern, and ephemeral.
This foundational trio—Boudin as mentor, Jongkind as technical inspiration, Barbizon as philosophical precursor—helped transform Monet from student to revolutionary, with Impression, Soleil Levant as the enduring emblem.
Influence of J.M.W. Turner and Claude Lorrain on Claude Monet's Impression, Soleil Levant
Claude Monet's Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise, 1872), the seminal harbor dawn scene at Le Havre that named Impressionism, draws on a rich lineage of landscape traditions. While Monet's immediate mentors (Boudin, Jongkind) and contemporaries shaped his plein air technique, his exposure to earlier masters—particularly during his 1870–1871 exile in London amid the Franco-Prussian War—played a key role in refining his obsession with atmospheric light, mist, and ephemeral effects.
Monet visited the National Gallery and other collections, encountering the luminous, fog-laden visions of J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) and the classical harbor scenes of Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée, c. 1600–1682). These encounters reinforced Monet's shift toward subjective perception over detailed realism, though he later downplayed some influences (notably Turner).
J.M.W. Turner: Atmospheric Light, Mist, and Precursor to Impressionist Effects
Turner, the British Romantic master, revolutionized landscape painting with his emphasis on light as a transformative force, dissolving forms in mist, fog, spray, and radiant sunrises/sunsets. His late works—often executed in watercolor or with loose, swirling brushwork—prioritize mood, color vibrations, and atmospheric immersion over precise topography.
Monet, in London, was captivated by Turner's ability to capture transient weather and industrial haze (e.g., Thames fogs), which echoed the industrial vapors of Le Havre. Scholars frequently link Turner's influence to Impression, Soleil Levant's hazy veil, where sky, water, and smoke blend in soft gradients, and the orange sun pierces through mist with glowing intensity.
Specific parallels include:
Claude Lorrain: Classical Harbor Composition as a Timeless Model
Claude Lorrain, the 17th-century French Baroque landscapist (working in Italy), specialized in idealized seaports bathed in golden light, with balanced compositions framing sunrises or sunsets over water, ships, and architecture. His works evoke harmony, depth through atmospheric perspective, and the sublime beauty of dawn/dusk.
During Monet's London stay, he likely viewed Lorrain's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba (1648) at the National Gallery—a grand harbor scene with radiant light, masts, and boats in a structured yet luminous vista.
Some scholars propose Monet consciously referenced this as a "contemporary variation": updating Lorrain's timeless, idealized port to a modern, industrial Le Havre dawn. Monet's composition—quays framing the central basin, sun low and central, boats and masts suggesting activity—echoes Lorrain's classical framing and light effects, but stripped of narrative grandeur for raw perceptual "impression."
This connection positions Impression, Soleil Levant as a modern dialogue with old masters: Monet secularizes and democratizes the sunrise motif, replacing mythic embarkations with everyday harbor life shrouded in factory haze.
Synthesis in Impression, Soleil Levant
Turner's atmospheric radicalism and Lorrain's compositional poise converged with Monet's French plein air roots (Boudin, Jongkind, Barbizon) and Japonisme to produce this breakthrough. The painting's misty diffusion, bold sun, and loose handling capture light's primacy—echoing Turner's dissolution of form and Lorrain's luminous harbors—while asserting modernity through industrial subject and subjective immediacy.
These influences helped Monet transcend description, rendering not the port itself but the fleeting impression of dawn light, cementing Impression, Soleil Levant as Impressionism's founding work.
Claude Monet's Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise, 1872), the seminal harbor dawn scene at Le Havre that named Impressionism, draws on a rich lineage of landscape traditions. While Monet's immediate mentors (Boudin, Jongkind) and contemporaries shaped his plein air technique, his exposure to earlier masters—particularly during his 1870–1871 exile in London amid the Franco-Prussian War—played a key role in refining his obsession with atmospheric light, mist, and ephemeral effects.
Monet visited the National Gallery and other collections, encountering the luminous, fog-laden visions of J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) and the classical harbor scenes of Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée, c. 1600–1682). These encounters reinforced Monet's shift toward subjective perception over detailed realism, though he later downplayed some influences (notably Turner).
J.M.W. Turner: Atmospheric Light, Mist, and Precursor to Impressionist Effects
Turner, the British Romantic master, revolutionized landscape painting with his emphasis on light as a transformative force, dissolving forms in mist, fog, spray, and radiant sunrises/sunsets. His late works—often executed in watercolor or with loose, swirling brushwork—prioritize mood, color vibrations, and atmospheric immersion over precise topography.
Monet, in London, was captivated by Turner's ability to capture transient weather and industrial haze (e.g., Thames fogs), which echoed the industrial vapors of Le Havre. Scholars frequently link Turner's influence to Impression, Soleil Levant's hazy veil, where sky, water, and smoke blend in soft gradients, and the orange sun pierces through mist with glowing intensity.
Specific parallels include:
- Limited palette and strong contrasts — Turner's The Scarlet Sunset (c. 1830–1840) uses restrained grays and oranges for hazy sunsets, with bold color to evoke mood—similar to Monet's blue-gray haze contrasting the vivid orange sun and its watery reflection.
- Atmospheric dissolution — Turner's fog-enshrouded harbors and sunrises (e.g., Norham Castle, Sunrise, 1845) prefigure Monet's "unfinished" sketch-like quality, where forms (boats, masts) emerge suggestively rather than defined.
- Modern subjects in poetic light — Both artists infuse contemporary scenes (industrial ports) with sublime, ephemeral beauty, though Monet radicalized this by completing the work en plein air for pure perceptual immediacy.
Claude Lorrain: Classical Harbor Composition as a Timeless Model
Claude Lorrain, the 17th-century French Baroque landscapist (working in Italy), specialized in idealized seaports bathed in golden light, with balanced compositions framing sunrises or sunsets over water, ships, and architecture. His works evoke harmony, depth through atmospheric perspective, and the sublime beauty of dawn/dusk.
During Monet's London stay, he likely viewed Lorrain's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba (1648) at the National Gallery—a grand harbor scene with radiant light, masts, and boats in a structured yet luminous vista.
Some scholars propose Monet consciously referenced this as a "contemporary variation": updating Lorrain's timeless, idealized port to a modern, industrial Le Havre dawn. Monet's composition—quays framing the central basin, sun low and central, boats and masts suggesting activity—echoes Lorrain's classical framing and light effects, but stripped of narrative grandeur for raw perceptual "impression."
This connection positions Impression, Soleil Levant as a modern dialogue with old masters: Monet secularizes and democratizes the sunrise motif, replacing mythic embarkations with everyday harbor life shrouded in factory haze.
Synthesis in Impression, Soleil Levant
Turner's atmospheric radicalism and Lorrain's compositional poise converged with Monet's French plein air roots (Boudin, Jongkind, Barbizon) and Japonisme to produce this breakthrough. The painting's misty diffusion, bold sun, and loose handling capture light's primacy—echoing Turner's dissolution of form and Lorrain's luminous harbors—while asserting modernity through industrial subject and subjective immediacy.
These influences helped Monet transcend description, rendering not the port itself but the fleeting impression of dawn light, cementing Impression, Soleil Levant as Impressionism's founding work.
2
1873 Le Pont du Chemin de Fer à Argenteuil
2008 SOLD for $ 41.5M by Christie's
Claude Monet moved with his family to Argenteuil in December 1871. The Seine is broad at that place, and the small town is renowned for its leisure activities. The two bridges, one for the road and the other for the rail, had been destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War and will soon be rebuilt.
Monet is one of the very first artists to take an interest in the railway as a symbol of modern life. The train comfortably carries the boaters, and its smoke enlivens the landscape. Until his series of views of the Gare Saint-Lazare in 1877, the artist expresses his enthusiasm for this new industry.
Le Pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil is an oil on canvas 60 x 98 cm painted in 1873. The bridge mounted on four pairs of pillars goes through the image over its entire length. Two trains are crossing one another, one of them being mostly noticeable by the smoke of its locomotive in the blue summer sky. Two small sailboats pass under the bridge, and two men on the quay look peacefully at the river.
The bridge is the main theme of the picture thanks to the absence of details on the two banks. It is the only view in which Monet uses this specific bridge as a symbol of modernism. In the following year his paintings on the same site are to study the variation of light.
Le Pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil was sold for $ 41.5M by Christie's on May 6, 2008, lot 21. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Renoir put his easel at the same place, probably side by side with his friend. Compared to the clarity of Monet's drawing, this sketch by Renoir is too tormented and not spacious enough. One year before the first impressionist exhibition, Monet appears here as a master of the expression of modern life in a classic style.
Monet is one of the very first artists to take an interest in the railway as a symbol of modern life. The train comfortably carries the boaters, and its smoke enlivens the landscape. Until his series of views of the Gare Saint-Lazare in 1877, the artist expresses his enthusiasm for this new industry.
Le Pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil is an oil on canvas 60 x 98 cm painted in 1873. The bridge mounted on four pairs of pillars goes through the image over its entire length. Two trains are crossing one another, one of them being mostly noticeable by the smoke of its locomotive in the blue summer sky. Two small sailboats pass under the bridge, and two men on the quay look peacefully at the river.
The bridge is the main theme of the picture thanks to the absence of details on the two banks. It is the only view in which Monet uses this specific bridge as a symbol of modernism. In the following year his paintings on the same site are to study the variation of light.
Le Pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil was sold for $ 41.5M by Christie's on May 6, 2008, lot 21. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Renoir put his easel at the same place, probably side by side with his friend. Compared to the clarity of Monet's drawing, this sketch by Renoir is too tormented and not spacious enough. One year before the first impressionist exhibition, Monet appears here as a master of the expression of modern life in a classic style.
3
1874 Le Bassin d'Argenteuil
2021 SOLD for $ 28M by Christie's
Upstream from his home town of Sainte-Adresse to Paris, the Seine is the thread in Monet's art. Back from his exile in London, he moves to Argenteuil in December 1871. The small rural village formerly renowned for its vine and asparagus is close enough from Paris to appeal the middle class in search of nice leisure and spare time. Its first yacht club was created in 1858, taking advantage of the quietness of the flow at that place.
Young artists refuse the academicism of the official Salons. They create a cooperative and organize their first exhibition in the spring of 1874. No less than 29 artists participate, demonstrating the scale and momentum of this new movement. Impression Soleil levant painted two years earlier by Monet becomes the flagship of the new painting : they can show the mist without drawing the outlines.
Claude Monet is confident and enthusiastic. During the summer he paints tirelessly the Seine river at Argenteuil, from his new process of outdoor painting to which he adds the use of a bespoke studio boat. He keeps in touch on the site with the other avant-garde painters including Manet, Renoir and soon Caillebotte. The grass of the meadow and the reflection in the water are the sources of his new inspiration, the real birth of Impressionnisme.
Monet appreciates that his best ally is the spontaneity. The emotion is generated by the speed that liberates the instinct. He improves his technique by varying the brushstrokes by topic on the same canvas : horizontal mark for water and comma shaped wrist movement in the tree. The skilled hand of the artist generates a vibration that reflects the tremor and rustling of water and wind. Monet may now match Constable.
On November 11, 2021, Christie's sold for $ 28M from a lower estimate of $ 15M Le Bassin d'Argenteuil, oil on canvas 54 x 73 cm painted in late spring or summer 1874 in the wake of the first Impressionist exhibition, lot 15C. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In a pleasant weather, there is busy boating on the river. White sails provide a striking contrast. A bearded man and his wife are standing on the jetty. The interplay of glowing colors in thick brush strokes is superseding lines and sharpness for sharing a sensation of quiet leisure.
Le Petit-Gennevilliers is right in front of Argenteuil, on the other side of the river. Monet works outdoors : he set up his easel on a barge under the railway bridge. Boats for rent await the walkers at this point, increasing the charm of the scene. A painting by Manet shows Monet busy at work at that very place.
On May 12, 2016, Christie's sold for $ 11.4M a view of Le Petit-Gennevilliers painted by Monet in 1874, oil on canvas 55 x 73 cm, lot 16C. The weather is gray and the sun is screened, providing an atmosphere altogether soft and quivering which is a beautiful effect of the early impressionist experiments. Since 1901 this painting had not left the collection of the philanthropist HO Havemeyer and his wife Louisine who were in their time the best connoisseurs of impressionism in the United States.
Young artists refuse the academicism of the official Salons. They create a cooperative and organize their first exhibition in the spring of 1874. No less than 29 artists participate, demonstrating the scale and momentum of this new movement. Impression Soleil levant painted two years earlier by Monet becomes the flagship of the new painting : they can show the mist without drawing the outlines.
Claude Monet is confident and enthusiastic. During the summer he paints tirelessly the Seine river at Argenteuil, from his new process of outdoor painting to which he adds the use of a bespoke studio boat. He keeps in touch on the site with the other avant-garde painters including Manet, Renoir and soon Caillebotte. The grass of the meadow and the reflection in the water are the sources of his new inspiration, the real birth of Impressionnisme.
Monet appreciates that his best ally is the spontaneity. The emotion is generated by the speed that liberates the instinct. He improves his technique by varying the brushstrokes by topic on the same canvas : horizontal mark for water and comma shaped wrist movement in the tree. The skilled hand of the artist generates a vibration that reflects the tremor and rustling of water and wind. Monet may now match Constable.
On November 11, 2021, Christie's sold for $ 28M from a lower estimate of $ 15M Le Bassin d'Argenteuil, oil on canvas 54 x 73 cm painted in late spring or summer 1874 in the wake of the first Impressionist exhibition, lot 15C. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In a pleasant weather, there is busy boating on the river. White sails provide a striking contrast. A bearded man and his wife are standing on the jetty. The interplay of glowing colors in thick brush strokes is superseding lines and sharpness for sharing a sensation of quiet leisure.
Le Petit-Gennevilliers is right in front of Argenteuil, on the other side of the river. Monet works outdoors : he set up his easel on a barge under the railway bridge. Boats for rent await the walkers at this point, increasing the charm of the scene. A painting by Manet shows Monet busy at work at that very place.
On May 12, 2016, Christie's sold for $ 11.4M a view of Le Petit-Gennevilliers painted by Monet in 1874, oil on canvas 55 x 73 cm, lot 16C. The weather is gray and the sun is screened, providing an atmosphere altogether soft and quivering which is a beautiful effect of the early impressionist experiments. Since 1901 this painting had not left the collection of the philanthropist HO Havemeyer and his wife Louisine who were in their time the best connoisseurs of impressionism in the United States.
#AuctionUpdate: 'Le bassin d'Argenteuil' by Claude Monet (1840-1926) achieved $27,840,000 at auction. Painted in 1874, the year of the landmark First Impressionist Exhibition, 'Le bassin d'Argenteuil' is a quintessential landscape of modernity in form and in subject.⠀ pic.twitter.com/TG8kKHSxmA
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) November 12, 2021
4
1877 Gare Saint-Lazare
2018 SOLD for $ 33M by Christie's
Young people of all times are tempted by modern life. Monet is soon disillusioned. He had desired to maintain in Argenteuil his corner of paradise, a residence in the countryside for which the railway is the link with the big city and its progress. Urbanization reaches Argenteuil. He feels the need to take a decision.
In 1876 Monet lost his enthusiasm for Argenteuil. He spends the last months of that year in a more rural atmosphere in Montgeron for the decoration of the Hoschedé residence. Just back from Montgeron he left for Paris with an authorization from the railway administration to work inside the Gare Saint-Lazare.
From January to March 1877 he made a sort of report composed of twelve artworks, four inside the station and eight outside, in varied weather conditions. A passer-by narrated that he saw Claude Monet perched on a stack of crates with his brush in his hand, feverishly waiting for the ambient light to match his expectations.
The choice of this theme is unexpected for this artist but is certainly not a self attempt to be disgusted from the smokes of the city. A better hypothesis is that Monet considered himself as a leader of the new outdoor painting and did not want to be overcome by the urban pictures of Caillebotte and Manet.
Monet painted twelve canvases showing the interior with the platforms or the outside with trains coming or leaving. The result of this creativity is significant. The nauseating smoke of trains mingles with a heavily loaded sky and makes you want to run away.
Indeed when the third exhibition of the Impressionnistes opened in April 1877 his Saint-Lazare series was already completed and it featured prominently in his selection.
His Gares Saint-Lazare will remain forever an unparalleled set. For the very last time he had tried to illustrate the progress. For nearly half a century he will stubbornly devote to landscapes, to monuments and to his garden.
In 1876 Monet lost his enthusiasm for Argenteuil. He spends the last months of that year in a more rural atmosphere in Montgeron for the decoration of the Hoschedé residence. Just back from Montgeron he left for Paris with an authorization from the railway administration to work inside the Gare Saint-Lazare.
From January to March 1877 he made a sort of report composed of twelve artworks, four inside the station and eight outside, in varied weather conditions. A passer-by narrated that he saw Claude Monet perched on a stack of crates with his brush in his hand, feverishly waiting for the ambient light to match his expectations.
The choice of this theme is unexpected for this artist but is certainly not a self attempt to be disgusted from the smokes of the city. A better hypothesis is that Monet considered himself as a leader of the new outdoor painting and did not want to be overcome by the urban pictures of Caillebotte and Manet.
Monet painted twelve canvases showing the interior with the platforms or the outside with trains coming or leaving. The result of this creativity is significant. The nauseating smoke of trains mingles with a heavily loaded sky and makes you want to run away.
Indeed when the third exhibition of the Impressionnistes opened in April 1877 his Saint-Lazare series was already completed and it featured prominently in his selection.
His Gares Saint-Lazare will remain forever an unparalleled set. For the very last time he had tried to illustrate the progress. For nearly half a century he will stubbornly devote to landscapes, to monuments and to his garden.
Only one of the twelve paintings, 61 x 81 cm, escapes Monet's pessimism thanks to a bright sunshine. The view is taken towards the double tunnel of the Batignolles. On the left the smoke is a fairly sharp cone. On the right the train has not yet come out and its smoke is diffused in all directions in the square, creating a veil in the atmosphere of clear weather.
In the best tradition of early Impressionnisme, this painting offers an ambience through which we can almost perceive heat and smell. Rockefeller did not make a mistake when he bought it. He liked this artwork very much while noting that the asking price had seemed high. It was sold for $ 33M by Christie's on May 8, 2018, lot 26. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In the best tradition of early Impressionnisme, this painting offers an ambience through which we can almost perceive heat and smell. Rockefeller did not make a mistake when he bought it. He liked this artwork very much while noting that the asking price had seemed high. It was sold for $ 33M by Christie's on May 8, 2018, lot 26. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
5
1877 Gare Saint-Lazare
2018 SOLD for £ 25M by Christie's
On June 20, 2018, Christie's sold for £ 25M an outdoor view, oil on canvas 61 x 81 cm, lot 25 B. The foreground is intentionally empty to draw a better attention to the background where the thick steam from the trains mingle in a cloudy sky. The two locomotives and the tall arches of the glass roofs of the station provide the illusion of a picturesque instantaneous.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
MANET
1
1872 Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne
2004 SOLD for $ 26.3M by Sotheby's
Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas have masterfully shaken up the classicism. Building on their predecessors, they find new ideas for staging and colors.
Manet easily entered into artist circles. He enjoys social life and does not wait for the recognition of the Salons. His themes are unlimited. Before him, Courbet went already complacently up to the scandal. Baudelaire and then Zola recognize the originality of his approach.
On May 5, 2004, Sotheby's sold for $ 26.3M Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne, oil on canvas 73 x 94 cm painted in 1872 by Manet, lot 13, from the collection of one of the most famous owners of racehorses, John Hay Whitney. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The artist skillfully mixed observation and imitation. It seems that the topography of the Longchamp racecourse was painted on the spot.
Manet had demonstrated a few years earlier in his first bullfighting scenes that a direct participation in the event was not essential, since he could rely on Goya. Here the horses in full gallop all fly with their four legs lifted, as in the Epsom Derby painted by Géricault in 1821, acquired by the Louvre in 1866. The imperturbable position of the jockeys in full race is not realistic : the sporting effort was obviously not appreciated by Manet.
Manet's painting is however very modern. The track and the lawn are aquamarine blue, highlighting the contrasts in a freedom of colors that anticipates expressionism for several decades. The distance of the subjects is marked by an increasing blur, as if it were a photograph focused on the action in progress in the foreground. This artifice provides the whole composition with an effect of depth, different from the solutions sought by his impressionist friends.
Manet easily entered into artist circles. He enjoys social life and does not wait for the recognition of the Salons. His themes are unlimited. Before him, Courbet went already complacently up to the scandal. Baudelaire and then Zola recognize the originality of his approach.
On May 5, 2004, Sotheby's sold for $ 26.3M Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne, oil on canvas 73 x 94 cm painted in 1872 by Manet, lot 13, from the collection of one of the most famous owners of racehorses, John Hay Whitney. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The artist skillfully mixed observation and imitation. It seems that the topography of the Longchamp racecourse was painted on the spot.
Manet had demonstrated a few years earlier in his first bullfighting scenes that a direct participation in the event was not essential, since he could rely on Goya. Here the horses in full gallop all fly with their four legs lifted, as in the Epsom Derby painted by Géricault in 1821, acquired by the Louvre in 1866. The imperturbable position of the jockeys in full race is not realistic : the sporting effort was obviously not appreciated by Manet.
Manet's painting is however very modern. The track and the lawn are aquamarine blue, highlighting the contrasts in a freedom of colors that anticipates expressionism for several decades. The distance of the subjects is marked by an increasing blur, as if it were a photograph focused on the action in progress in the foreground. This artifice provides the whole composition with an effect of depth, different from the solutions sought by his impressionist friends.
2
1874 Le Grand Canal à Venise
2022 SOLD for $ 52M by Christie's
The reciprocal influence of Manet and Monet was tremendous in art history. When the Impressionniste brush stroke was developed by his friends, Edouard Manet went to use lighter colors without his previous dark backgrounds. He also began to work outdoors while continuing to complete his best works in the studio.
Venice was another influence to Manet. In a first visit in 1853 while he was a student, he had admired Titian's Venus of Urbino that directly inspired his own Olympia in 1863.
Manet made his second visit to Venice in the fall of 1874. During his one month stay, he disregarded the monuments for appreciating the details that brought that amazing atmosphere to the city. He had spent the previous summer in his family home in Gennevilliers in the vicinity of Monet's Argenteuil and both artists had worked side by side and shared thoughts.
Manet painted only two views during that trip, both of the Gran Canale. Their unprecedented style to represent Venice certainly influenced Monet's views of the canal 34 years later.
Le Grand Canal à Venise, oil on canvas 58 x 48 cm, is a daring composition that could please Degas. The focusing point is a misaligned group of humble masts whose blue and white stripes make a bright contrast over the rest of the scenery including a half hidden soft pink Santa Maria della Salute. He added a cropped gondola at both sides of the picture. The reflections in the rippling water are inspired by Monet's views of the Seine.
It was sold for $ 52M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 27. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought :
Quote
Dr. Kyriakos N. Papathanassiou, CPA, FRPSL, AIEP @Hermes1861 Sep 24, 2022
Christie's announced that an auction of Paul Allen's art collection would be held in November. The largest auction in auction history, includes works by Van Gogh, Signac, Cezanne, Monet, Seurat, Manet, Gaugin, Turner, Kadinsky, Klimt. My favorite, Manet's Le Grand Canal a Venice.
Venice was another influence to Manet. In a first visit in 1853 while he was a student, he had admired Titian's Venus of Urbino that directly inspired his own Olympia in 1863.
Manet made his second visit to Venice in the fall of 1874. During his one month stay, he disregarded the monuments for appreciating the details that brought that amazing atmosphere to the city. He had spent the previous summer in his family home in Gennevilliers in the vicinity of Monet's Argenteuil and both artists had worked side by side and shared thoughts.
Manet painted only two views during that trip, both of the Gran Canale. Their unprecedented style to represent Venice certainly influenced Monet's views of the canal 34 years later.
Le Grand Canal à Venise, oil on canvas 58 x 48 cm, is a daring composition that could please Degas. The focusing point is a misaligned group of humble masts whose blue and white stripes make a bright contrast over the rest of the scenery including a half hidden soft pink Santa Maria della Salute. He added a cropped gondola at both sides of the picture. The reflections in the rippling water are inspired by Monet's views of the Seine.
It was sold for $ 52M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 27. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought :
Quote
Dr. Kyriakos N. Papathanassiou, CPA, FRPSL, AIEP @Hermes1861 Sep 24, 2022
Christie's announced that an auction of Paul Allen's art collection would be held in November. The largest auction in auction history, includes works by Van Gogh, Signac, Cezanne, Monet, Seurat, Manet, Gaugin, Turner, Kadinsky, Klimt. My favorite, Manet's Le Grand Canal a Venice.
- This September 2022 post by art collector Dr. Kyriakos Papathanassiou announces Christie's auction of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's collection, billed as the largest in history with over 150 Impressionist and Modern works by artists including Van Gogh and Monet.
- Allen, who died in 2018, built the $1.6 billion trove over 40 years; the November sale shattered records by raising $1.62 billion, with all proceeds funding science, arts, and environmental causes per his will.
- The highlighted Manet painting, "Le Grand Canal à Venise" (1874), an oil capturing Venice's canals with loose Impressionist strokes, fetched $51.9 million—nearly double its high estimate—underscoring strong demand for French 19th-century views of Italy.
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2 bis
for reference
1874-1875
Shelburne Museum
The other view of Venice by Manet, 64 x 75 cm completed in 1875, focuses on a gondola with a standing gondolier paddling behind similar masts.The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought :
Quote
Impressions @impression_ists Feb 22, 2023
Edouard Manet - The Grand Canal of Venice (Blue Venice)
Grok thought :
Quote
Impressions @impression_ists Feb 22, 2023
Edouard Manet - The Grand Canal of Venice (Blue Venice)
- Édouard Manet's 1875 oil painting "The Grand Canal of Venice (Blue Venice)" captures a gondolier navigating the canal's reflective blue waters amid warm-toned buildings, created during a September trip with painter James Tissot, marking a departure from his typical Parisian subjects.
- The work exemplifies Manet's impressionistic style through loose brushstrokes and vibrant color contrasts—dominated by blues and yellows—to evoke Venice's luminous atmosphere, differing from his cooler North Atlantic seascapes.
- Posted by art enthusiast @impression_ists, the image garnered over 1,200 likes in 2023, highlighting ongoing appreciation for Manet's rare Venetian piece now housed at Vermont's Shelburne Museum.
3
1878-1879 Self Portrait with palette
2010 SOLD for £ 22.4M by Sotheby's
In 1878 or 1879, Edouard Manet painted two self portraits, which were the only ones of his career. Perhaps he wanted to change the image that his contemporaries had of him, fifteen years after such powerful and scandalous progresses of modern art as were le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and Olympia.
Manet is not a rapin. This colloquial term used in Paris at that time applied to partygoer artists who courted easy milliners who were known as grisettes. Instead, his elegant jacket and hat, and his full and forked beard provided the image of a grand bourgeois.
The oil on canvas 85 x 71 cm reinforces the quest for respectability by including the professional attributes of the artist: his brushes and palette. There is however an obstacle to the social success of Manet : he stares into space, sadly. Aged 47, he is already sick.
Manet is often classified among the Impressionists, whom he was one of the first to support. He was rather a great experimenter of the artistic language, and each of his paintings is a bit unique. This one is among the most prestigious. It was sold for $ 18.7M by Christie's on May 12, 1997, lot 107, and for £ 22.4M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2010, lot 9. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Manet is not a rapin. This colloquial term used in Paris at that time applied to partygoer artists who courted easy milliners who were known as grisettes. Instead, his elegant jacket and hat, and his full and forked beard provided the image of a grand bourgeois.
The oil on canvas 85 x 71 cm reinforces the quest for respectability by including the professional attributes of the artist: his brushes and palette. There is however an obstacle to the social success of Manet : he stares into space, sadly. Aged 47, he is already sick.
Manet is often classified among the Impressionists, whom he was one of the first to support. He was rather a great experimenter of the artistic language, and each of his paintings is a bit unique. This one is among the most prestigious. It was sold for $ 18.7M by Christie's on May 12, 1997, lot 107, and for £ 22.4M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2010, lot 9. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
masterpiece
1872 Le Berceau by Morisot
Musée d'Orsay
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Berthe Morisot's Le Berceau (The Cradle), 1872, housed in the Musée d'Orsay, is one of her most iconic and famous works. Painted in oil on canvas, it depicts the artist's sister Edma Pontillon gazing tenderly at her sleeping daughter Blanche in a cradle, with a delicate net curtain partially drawn across the scene.
Artist's Motivation
Morisot painted Le Berceau in 1872 as her first exploration of motherhood, a theme that would become central to her oeuvre. The work captures an intimate, private moment of maternal love and protection—Edma's gentle gaze, the mirroring of arms between mother and child, and the protective gesture of drawing the curtain create a profound sense of tenderness and emotional closeness. This was motivated by Morisot's focus on domestic life and the everyday experiences of women in bourgeois society, subjects often overlooked in grand historical or public art. The painting reflects her interest in modern femininity, psychological nuance (including subtle weariness and inner complexity in motherhood), and the quiet beauty of family bonds. Unlike anecdotal or picturesque treatments of childhood in Salon art, Morisot aimed for simplicity and direct emotional resonance, allowing viewers to connect personally.
Influences
Morisot's style in Le Berceau shows clear ties to Édouard Manet, whom she met in 1868 and whose brother Eugène she later married in 1874. Manet's influence encouraged her to focus more on portraits, faces, and brighter palettes, while their mutual exchanges helped lighten his own work toward plein-air approaches. She also drew from earlier mentors like Camille Corot (who advised her on painting from nature) and copied works at the Louvre early on. Broader Impressionist ideas—loose, fluid brushwork, emphasis on light, and rejection of strict academic finish—are evident in the painting's delicate, hazy veils of color and sketch-like quality. It parallels contemporary works like Monet's depictions of his son in a cradle, signaling a new, modern representation of childhood and family intimacy.
Breakthrough
Le Berceau marked a significant moment when Morisot exhibited it at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874—the inaugural show of the Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs. As the only woman in the group (and one of its key organizers), her inclusion was groundbreaking. The painting received some positive critical notice for its grace, elegance, and delicate execution—one of the few works at the show to garner praise amid widespread ridicule of the movement. Though it didn't sell and remained in her collection, it helped establish her as a serious Impressionist voice, challenging gender barriers and Salon dominance.
Legacy
Le Berceau remains Morisot's most celebrated painting and a cornerstone of Impressionism, often seen as a key to understanding the movement's revolutionary temperament—its shift toward psychological depth, intimate subjects, and innovative techniques over academic polish. It highlights Morisot's pioneering role as a female artist depicting women's private worlds (motherhood, domesticity, fashion) from an insider's perspective, inaccessible to most male painters. Her nuanced portrayal of maternal experience—tender yet edged with realism—feels strikingly modern, influencing later explorations of gender and everyday life in art. Today, it exemplifies how Impressionism expanded art's boundaries, and Morisot's contributions as a leading figure (not just a "token" woman) continue to be reevaluated for their lasting impact on feminist art history and the movement's legacy.
Berthe Morisot's Le Berceau (The Cradle), 1872, housed in the Musée d'Orsay, is one of her most iconic and famous works. Painted in oil on canvas, it depicts the artist's sister Edma Pontillon gazing tenderly at her sleeping daughter Blanche in a cradle, with a delicate net curtain partially drawn across the scene.
Artist's Motivation
Morisot painted Le Berceau in 1872 as her first exploration of motherhood, a theme that would become central to her oeuvre. The work captures an intimate, private moment of maternal love and protection—Edma's gentle gaze, the mirroring of arms between mother and child, and the protective gesture of drawing the curtain create a profound sense of tenderness and emotional closeness. This was motivated by Morisot's focus on domestic life and the everyday experiences of women in bourgeois society, subjects often overlooked in grand historical or public art. The painting reflects her interest in modern femininity, psychological nuance (including subtle weariness and inner complexity in motherhood), and the quiet beauty of family bonds. Unlike anecdotal or picturesque treatments of childhood in Salon art, Morisot aimed for simplicity and direct emotional resonance, allowing viewers to connect personally.
Influences
Morisot's style in Le Berceau shows clear ties to Édouard Manet, whom she met in 1868 and whose brother Eugène she later married in 1874. Manet's influence encouraged her to focus more on portraits, faces, and brighter palettes, while their mutual exchanges helped lighten his own work toward plein-air approaches. She also drew from earlier mentors like Camille Corot (who advised her on painting from nature) and copied works at the Louvre early on. Broader Impressionist ideas—loose, fluid brushwork, emphasis on light, and rejection of strict academic finish—are evident in the painting's delicate, hazy veils of color and sketch-like quality. It parallels contemporary works like Monet's depictions of his son in a cradle, signaling a new, modern representation of childhood and family intimacy.
Breakthrough
Le Berceau marked a significant moment when Morisot exhibited it at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874—the inaugural show of the Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs. As the only woman in the group (and one of its key organizers), her inclusion was groundbreaking. The painting received some positive critical notice for its grace, elegance, and delicate execution—one of the few works at the show to garner praise amid widespread ridicule of the movement. Though it didn't sell and remained in her collection, it helped establish her as a serious Impressionist voice, challenging gender barriers and Salon dominance.
Legacy
Le Berceau remains Morisot's most celebrated painting and a cornerstone of Impressionism, often seen as a key to understanding the movement's revolutionary temperament—its shift toward psychological depth, intimate subjects, and innovative techniques over academic polish. It highlights Morisot's pioneering role as a female artist depicting women's private worlds (motherhood, domesticity, fashion) from an insider's perspective, inaccessible to most male painters. Her nuanced portrayal of maternal experience—tender yet edged with realism—feels strikingly modern, influencing later explorations of gender and everyday life in art. Today, it exemplifies how Impressionism expanded art's boundaries, and Morisot's contributions as a leading figure (not just a "token" woman) continue to be reevaluated for their lasting impact on feminist art history and the movement's legacy.
masterpiece
1874 Westminster Bridge by Whistler
Burrell Collection
Grok thought :
Quote
Paintings of London @PaintingsLondon Oct 11
'Nocturne: Grey and Gold, Westminster Bridge' (1874) by James McNeill Whistler (The Burrell Collection)
Quote
Paintings of London @PaintingsLondon Oct 11
'Nocturne: Grey and Gold, Westminster Bridge' (1874) by James McNeill Whistler (The Burrell Collection)
- Whistler's 1872-1874 Nocturne: Grey and Gold, Westminster Bridge captures a foggy Thames night scene in subtle greys and golds, emphasizing atmospheric abstraction over detail, part of his innovative series that influenced Impressionism.
- The painting, held in Glasgow's Burrell Collection since 1944, reflects Victorian London's industrial haze and gaslit bridges, evoking a poetic transience; Whistler's Nocturnes sparked controversy, notably his 1878 libel win against critic John Ruskin for calling similar works "flinging a pot of paint in the public's face."
- Posted by @PaintingsLondon on October 11, 2025, this share aligns with the account's focus on historic London art, garnering modest engagement amid rising interest in Whistler's works, with one reply noting its moody tone.
'Nocturne: Grey and Gold, Westminster Bridge' (1874) by James McNeill Whistler
— Paintings of London (@PaintingsLondon) October 11, 2025
(The Burrell Collection) pic.twitter.com/JxV3Hx2VY3
DEGAS
1
masterpiece
1875-1876 Dans un Café (L'Absinthe) by Degas
Musée d'Orsay
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1879 Danseuse au Repos
2008 SOLD for $ 37M by Sotheby's
Degas became interested in the world of dance at the instigation of his friend Ludovic Halévy. In 1875 the inauguration of the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier opened a new phase in his life and in his art. He attends the performances that take place three times a week, and his subscription allows an unlimited access behind the scenes.
The "petits rats" are of great interest to him. These very young women do not have that need for sexual activity which masks the psychological authenticity of the prostitutes. Their lives are exhausting, in training and on stage, but the glory may reward their efforts.
Degas did not rule out any technique. In 1875 he was seduced by the use of pastel enhanced with gouache on paper. Unlike oil and watercolor, this opaque material very easily allows the many reworks desired by the artist throughout the execution of an artwork.
In 1880 at the 5th impressionist exhibition, Degas displays a pastel and gouache 46 x 67 cm titled Deux danseuses, probably made in 1879. After an exhausting exercise, two ballerinas in tutu are seated side by side on a bench. They ignore each other, only trying to catch their breath, the body leaning forward.
The artist painted in the same technique another work, 59 x 64 cm, titled Danseuse au repos. It was sold by Sotheby's for £ 17.6M on June 28, 1999, lot 4 and for $ 37M on November 3, 2008, lot 14. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The girl on the right side in Deux Danseuses is in exactly the same attitude as before, with the left hand massaging the painful ankle and the other hand resting on the other knee. With her frail limbs and her upturned nose, this young woman has a resemblance to Marie, the model of the sculpture titled Petite danseuse de quatorze ans made by Degas around the same time. In a bold composition as Degas liked, her partner is almost entirely out of field.
Grok thought :
Quote
Artologism @artologism Aug 19, 2023
#گینس_هنری: گرانترین نقاشی از ادگار دگا یک نقاشی پاستل از ادگار دگا با عنوان Danseuse au repos مربوط به حدود سال ۱۸۷۹، در سال ۱۹۹۹ در حراجی ساتبیز در نیویورک به قیمت 17,601,500 پوند به فروش رسید و به گرانترین اثر نقاشی از این هنرمند مشهور فرانسوی تبدیل شد.
The "petits rats" are of great interest to him. These very young women do not have that need for sexual activity which masks the psychological authenticity of the prostitutes. Their lives are exhausting, in training and on stage, but the glory may reward their efforts.
Degas did not rule out any technique. In 1875 he was seduced by the use of pastel enhanced with gouache on paper. Unlike oil and watercolor, this opaque material very easily allows the many reworks desired by the artist throughout the execution of an artwork.
In 1880 at the 5th impressionist exhibition, Degas displays a pastel and gouache 46 x 67 cm titled Deux danseuses, probably made in 1879. After an exhausting exercise, two ballerinas in tutu are seated side by side on a bench. They ignore each other, only trying to catch their breath, the body leaning forward.
The artist painted in the same technique another work, 59 x 64 cm, titled Danseuse au repos. It was sold by Sotheby's for £ 17.6M on June 28, 1999, lot 4 and for $ 37M on November 3, 2008, lot 14. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The girl on the right side in Deux Danseuses is in exactly the same attitude as before, with the left hand massaging the painful ankle and the other hand resting on the other knee. With her frail limbs and her upturned nose, this young woman has a resemblance to Marie, the model of the sculpture titled Petite danseuse de quatorze ans made by Degas around the same time. In a bold composition as Degas liked, her partner is almost entirely out of field.
Grok thought :
Quote
Artologism @artologism Aug 19, 2023
#گینس_هنری: گرانترین نقاشی از ادگار دگا یک نقاشی پاستل از ادگار دگا با عنوان Danseuse au repos مربوط به حدود سال ۱۸۷۹، در سال ۱۹۹۹ در حراجی ساتبیز در نیویورک به قیمت 17,601,500 پوند به فروش رسید و به گرانترین اثر نقاشی از این هنرمند مشهور فرانسوی تبدیل شد.
- The post details Edgar Degas's 1879 pastel "Danseuse au Repos," depicting a resting ballerina, which sold for £17.6 million ($28 million) at Sotheby's in 1999, establishing a record for his paintings that persists into 2025 per Guinness World Records.
- Minor inaccuracy: The auction occurred in London, not New York; Degas, a key Impressionist, produced over 1,500 ballerina works, reflecting his backstage access to Paris's Opéra ballet.
- The sale highlights surging demand for Degas's pastels, which capture movement and light innovatively; adjusted for inflation, it equates to about $32 million today, outpacing recent estimates like a 2025 "Trois Danseuses" at $5 million max.
CAILLEBOTTE
1
breakthrough
1875 Les Raboteurs
Musée d'Orsay
Born in Paris to a family of wealthy bourgeois, Gustave Caillebotte graduated in law but could manage his life like a spare time. He took an interest in painting and made many friends in the avant-gardes. He was a keen visitor in 1874 of the exhibition afterward known as the Première exposition des peintres impressionnistes.
The young artists were innovating in the brush stroke, but also in the themes. Monet managed to display some instantaneous views of daily realism that went against the expectations of the official Salons. Un Coin d'appartement, painted by Monet in 1875, was acquired by Caillebotte whom it certainly deeply influenced.
In 1876 Caillebotte is invited to participate in the Seconde exposition des peintres impressionnistes. He hangs eight paintings including his masterpiece Les Raboteurs de parquet that does not feature the bourgeois but an instantaneous of three workers preparing the floor in a bourgeois apartment, undisturbed by the painter. This picture had of course been refused by the Salon for its ordinary theme in the previous year.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The young artists were innovating in the brush stroke, but also in the themes. Monet managed to display some instantaneous views of daily realism that went against the expectations of the official Salons. Un Coin d'appartement, painted by Monet in 1875, was acquired by Caillebotte whom it certainly deeply influenced.
In 1876 Caillebotte is invited to participate in the Seconde exposition des peintres impressionnistes. He hangs eight paintings including his masterpiece Les Raboteurs de parquet that does not feature the bourgeois but an instantaneous of three workers preparing the floor in a bourgeois apartment, undisturbed by the painter. This picture had of course been refused by the Salon for its ordinary theme in the previous year.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1876 Jeune Homme à sa Fenêtre
2021 SOLD for $ 53M by Christie's
Another scene exhibited by Caillebotte at the Seconde exposition is Jeune Homme à sa fenêtre, mingling the keen interests of the artist for his family and for the bourgeois comfort of the districts recently rebuilt by Haussmann. It features his younger brother René from back, standing at the balcony of the family's apartment to have a look towards the rue de Miromesnil and its sparse pedestrians.
This oil on canvas 116 x 81 cm painted in 1876 was sold for $ 53M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 23C. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The sun bathed rue de Miromesnil is rendered here in a highly realistic brush stroke. Now entered in the Impressionniste group, Caillebotte will then keenly use their style of painting and be instrumental in promoting their exhibitions.
L'Homme au balcon boulevard Haussmann, oil on canvas 117 x 90 cm painted in 1880, is a similar composition from an elevated point executed with an impressionist brushstroke in the trees. It has been sold for $ 14.3M by Christie's on May 8, 2000, lot 8.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Gustave Caillebotte's (1848-1894) 'Jeune homme à sa fenêtre' realized $53,030,000 at auction, setting a #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist.
This oil on canvas 116 x 81 cm painted in 1876 was sold for $ 53M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 23C. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The sun bathed rue de Miromesnil is rendered here in a highly realistic brush stroke. Now entered in the Impressionniste group, Caillebotte will then keenly use their style of painting and be instrumental in promoting their exhibitions.
L'Homme au balcon boulevard Haussmann, oil on canvas 117 x 90 cm painted in 1880, is a similar composition from an elevated point executed with an impressionist brushstroke in the trees. It has been sold for $ 14.3M by Christie's on May 8, 2000, lot 8.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Gustave Caillebotte's (1848-1894) 'Jeune homme à sa fenêtre' realized $53,030,000 at auction, setting a #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist.
- The painting "Jeune homme à la fenêtre" by Gustave Caillebotte, auctioned for $53,030,000 in 2021, depicts his brother René from behind, a poignant detail given René's death months later, reflecting the artist's early exploration of urban realism and perspective, as noted in a 2023 Getty Museum study on Impressionist emotional depth.
- This record-breaking sale surpassed the previous high of $22 million for Caillebotte’s work, signaling a 141% value surge in four years, a trend supported by a 2022 Art Basel report attributing such spikes to growing demand for overlooked Impressionist works amid global economic uncertainty.
- The artwork’s 1876 debut at the Impressionist exhibition, alongside the controversial "Les Raboteurs de parquet," challenged Salon norms, a move later validated by art historians who, in a 2024 JSTOR analysis, credit Caillebotte with bridging Romanticism and modern urban themes.
3
masterpiece
1876 Le Pont de l'Europe
Musée du Petit Palais in Genève
Paris is completely transformed during the Second Empire. For security reasons, Napoléon III entrusted to Haussmann the gigantic task of ridding the city from its dense pattern of unhealthy streets. Haussmann cuts into the urban fabric to create wide and straight avenues, lined with tall buildings on a unique model with long balconies.
Born in Paris in 1848, Gustave Caillebotte knew and appreciated such a breakthrough. In 1875 the young artist became an Impressionniste after his resentment of the Salon's rejection of a too social painting. He has the imagination for finding new themes.
Another wonder of the time is the railroad. In 1876 Caillebotte paints two views of the pont de l'Europe, a very long railway viaduct completed in 1868 with a prominent truss that connects to the Gare Saint-Lazare. These views are in full opposition from one another in terms of composition and color.
The summer view, oil on canvas 125 x 180 cm, was showed in 1877 at the 3rd Impressionist exhibition. It was preceded by at least six oil sketches. It displays a bright sun light. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Monet devoted the winter of 1877 to his series of paintings of this station, the terminus of the line that led him to Argenteuil. He worked from an apartment of which Caillebotte paid the rent.
Born in Paris in 1848, Gustave Caillebotte knew and appreciated such a breakthrough. In 1875 the young artist became an Impressionniste after his resentment of the Salon's rejection of a too social painting. He has the imagination for finding new themes.
Another wonder of the time is the railroad. In 1876 Caillebotte paints two views of the pont de l'Europe, a very long railway viaduct completed in 1868 with a prominent truss that connects to the Gare Saint-Lazare. These views are in full opposition from one another in terms of composition and color.
The summer view, oil on canvas 125 x 180 cm, was showed in 1877 at the 3rd Impressionist exhibition. It was preceded by at least six oil sketches. It displays a bright sun light. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Monet devoted the winter of 1877 to his series of paintings of this station, the terminus of the line that led him to Argenteuil. He worked from an apartment of which Caillebotte paid the rent.
1876 Bal du Moulin de la Galette by RENOIR
1
masterpiece
Musée d'Orsay
In 1863 Charles Gleyre admonishes Monet because he does not follow the model of the antique. Bringing with him three friends, Sisley, Renoir and Bazille, Monet slams the door and manages to paint outdoors.
Their temperaments are different. They are young and tempted by the good life of dancing balls. While Monet is overtaken by his wife, Renoir expresses the carefree joie de vivre of the groups to which he applies the impressionist style. Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876 and Le Déjeuner des Canotiers, exhibited in 1882, are among the most important masterpieces of painting.
Renoir painted two identical versions of the Moulin de la Galette. The largest, 131 x 175 cm, became the property of the French State through the Caillebotte bequest and is currently at the Musée d'Orsay. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok response :
Quote
Musée d'Orsay @MuseeOrsay Jun 1, 2020
Dans notre collection @googlearts, vous pouvez explorer le "Bal du moulin de la Galette" de Renoir dans ses moindres détails grâce au zoom #gigapixel. Pour vous plonger dans ce chef-d'oeuvre de l'impressionnisme, c'est ici : https://bit.ly/MoulinGalette_Gigapixel…
Their temperaments are different. They are young and tempted by the good life of dancing balls. While Monet is overtaken by his wife, Renoir expresses the carefree joie de vivre of the groups to which he applies the impressionist style. Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876 and Le Déjeuner des Canotiers, exhibited in 1882, are among the most important masterpieces of painting.
Renoir painted two identical versions of the Moulin de la Galette. The largest, 131 x 175 cm, became the property of the French State through the Caillebotte bequest and is currently at the Musée d'Orsay. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok response :
Quote
Musée d'Orsay @MuseeOrsay Jun 1, 2020
Dans notre collection @googlearts, vous pouvez explorer le "Bal du moulin de la Galette" de Renoir dans ses moindres détails grâce au zoom #gigapixel. Pour vous plonger dans ce chef-d'oeuvre de l'impressionnisme, c'est ici : https://bit.ly/MoulinGalette_Gigapixel…
- The X post by @MuseeOrsay
features a detailed zoom-in video of Auguste Renoir's "Bal du moulin de la Galette," a pivotal work from 1876 that captures the lively atmosphere of a popular dance hall in Montmartre, Paris, and was showcased at the 1877 Impressionist exhibition, highlighting Renoir's focus on social scenes and light. - The video leverages Google Arts & Culture's gigapixel technology, allowing viewers to explore intricate details of the painting, such as brushstrokes and textures, which is particularly significant given the painting's status as a cornerstone of Impressionism, emphasizing the movement's technique of capturing fleeting moments with loose brushwork.
- This approach not only educates the public about the technical aspects of Impressionist art but also aligns with modern digital tools that enhance art accessibility, reflecting a broader trend in cultural institutions using technology to engage audiences, as evidenced by studies showing increased visitor interaction with digital art platforms.
2
1990 SOLD for $ 78 M by Sotheby's
The other version is an oil on canvas 78 x 114 cm damaged by folding. Coming from the Whitney collection, it was sold for $ 78M from a lower estimate of $ 40M by Sotheby's on May 17, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The buyer was a Japanese collector named Ryoei Saito, who had acquired the Portrait of Dr Gachet by Van Gogh two days earlier at Christies for $ 82M. Saito creates some terror in the art world by announcing that at his death he will be cremated with the two paintings to avoid that enormous inheritance rights are required to his heirs.
Saito died in 1996. His threat was not carried out because his wealth had turned down and the artworks were sequestered by his creditors, but the two paintings were never seen again. The Van Gogh was reportedly located in 2007 in the collection of an Austrian financier who has since gone bankrupt.
Grok response :
Quote
Clown @ClownsTrenches Apr 27
Bal du moulin de la Galette – Pierre-Auguste Renoir Price: $78.1 million (1990, Sotheby’s Auction)
The buyer was a Japanese collector named Ryoei Saito, who had acquired the Portrait of Dr Gachet by Van Gogh two days earlier at Christies for $ 82M. Saito creates some terror in the art world by announcing that at his death he will be cremated with the two paintings to avoid that enormous inheritance rights are required to his heirs.
Saito died in 1996. His threat was not carried out because his wealth had turned down and the artworks were sequestered by his creditors, but the two paintings were never seen again. The Van Gogh was reportedly located in 2007 in the collection of an Austrian financier who has since gone bankrupt.
Grok response :
Quote
Clown @ClownsTrenches Apr 27
Bal du moulin de la Galette – Pierre-Auguste Renoir Price: $78.1 million (1990, Sotheby’s Auction)
- The painting "Bal du moulin de la Galette" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, featured in the post, captures a lively 1876 Parisian dance scene and sold for $78.1 million in 1990, reflecting its status as a cornerstone of Impressionism and a record price at the time for a Renoir work.
- Historical context reveals Renoir set up a studio near Montmartre’s Moulin de la Galette to paint this, using local models like Estelle Samary, after failing to convince her sister Jeanne, highlighting the social dynamics and artistic challenges of the era.
- Art market data from Sotheby’s and recent auctions, like the ₹355.77 crore South Asian art sale in 2025, suggest Renoir’s work continues to influence high-value art trends, though its 1990 sale price adjusted for inflation exceeds $180 million today, outpacing many modern records.
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Special Report
Impact of Japonisme on Impressionnisme
Japonism's Impact on Impressionism
Japonisme's Impact on ImpressionismJaponisme (or Japonism) refers to the profound fascination with Japanese art and culture that swept through Europe and the United States in the second half of the 19th century, particularly after Japan opened to Western trade following the 1853–1854 Perry Expedition. The term was coined in 1872 by French critic Philippe Burty to describe this cultural phenomenon. While it influenced various movements (including Art Nouveau and Post-Impressionism), its most significant and transformative effect was on Impressionism, helping to liberate Western art from academic conventions and realism.The primary vehicle for this influence was ukiyo-e woodblock prints by masters like Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kitagawa Utamaro. These affordable prints flooded European markets (often arriving as wrapping paper for porcelain or tea), and many Impressionists became avid collectors. They were drawn to ukiyo-e's fresh vision: everyday subjects from the "floating world," bold flat colors, innovative compositions, and a rejection of traditional Western perspective.
Key Ways Japonisme Shaped Impressionism
Japonisme encouraged Impressionists to experiment with new ways of seeing and depicting the world, aligning with their goals of capturing light, atmosphere, and modern life.
Many Impressionists collected ukiyo-e and integrated its elements subtly or overtly.
Overall Legacy
Japonisme provided a catalyst for Impressionism's radical innovations, validating their break from academic art toward modernity, subjectivity, and decorative beauty. It demonstrated that art could prioritize sensation, pattern, and the momentary over illusionistic depth. This cross-cultural exchange not only shaped Impressionism but influenced the broader trajectory of modern art, proving how non-Western traditions could invigorate European creativity.
Japonisme's Impact on ImpressionismJaponisme (or Japonism) refers to the profound fascination with Japanese art and culture that swept through Europe and the United States in the second half of the 19th century, particularly after Japan opened to Western trade following the 1853–1854 Perry Expedition. The term was coined in 1872 by French critic Philippe Burty to describe this cultural phenomenon. While it influenced various movements (including Art Nouveau and Post-Impressionism), its most significant and transformative effect was on Impressionism, helping to liberate Western art from academic conventions and realism.The primary vehicle for this influence was ukiyo-e woodblock prints by masters like Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kitagawa Utamaro. These affordable prints flooded European markets (often arriving as wrapping paper for porcelain or tea), and many Impressionists became avid collectors. They were drawn to ukiyo-e's fresh vision: everyday subjects from the "floating world," bold flat colors, innovative compositions, and a rejection of traditional Western perspective.
Key Ways Japonisme Shaped Impressionism
Japonisme encouraged Impressionists to experiment with new ways of seeing and depicting the world, aligning with their goals of capturing light, atmosphere, and modern life.
- Asymmetrical and Cropped Compositions
Japanese prints often used radical cropping, off-center subjects, and unusual viewpoints (inspired by photography but also folding screens and theater views). This created dynamic, snapshot-like scenes full of movement and spontaneity.- Edgar Degas absorbed this deeply, applying it to his ballet dancers and horse-racing scenes, where figures are cut off at the edges, emphasizing action and informality.
- Flattened Perspective and Rejection of Depth
Ukiyo-e flattened space, prioritizing decorative patterns over realistic three-dimensionality. This helped Impressionists move away from linear perspective toward flattened planes and emphasis on surface design.- Claude Monet used this in his later works, such as the Water Lilies series, where space is compressed and color dominates.
- Bold, Flat Colors and Decorative Quality
Japanese prints featured vibrant, unmodulated color blocks (often with Prussian blue influences that echoed Impressionist palettes) and strong outlines. This inspired brighter, more luminous colors and a decorative approach.- Impressionists adopted this for expressive, harmonious effects rather than strict realism.
- Everyday Subjects and Transience
Ukiyo-e celebrated ordinary moments—landscapes, women in daily life, nature's fleeting beauty—mirroring Impressionism's focus on modern life, leisure, and ephemeral effects of light and weather. - Unusual Viewpoints and Aerial Perspective
High or low angles, bird's-eye views, and empty spaces emphasized mood over literal representation.
Many Impressionists collected ukiyo-e and integrated its elements subtly or overtly.
- Claude Monet — A major collector (his Giverny home featured Japanese prints), he painted his wife Camille in a kimono (La Japonaise, 1876) and designed his garden with a Japanese bridge and water lilies inspired by prints. His series paintings (e.g., haystacks, Rouen Cathedral) echo the serial, atmospheric quality of Hiroshige's landscapes.
- Edgar Degas — He avoided superficial "japoneries" (exotic costumes) but absorbed compositional techniques: asymmetrical framing, cropped figures, and focus on line and pattern. His pastel works of dancers show strong Japanese influence in viewpoint and cropping.
- Mary Cassatt — Inspired by Utamaro's prints of women, she created color etchings after a 1890 ukiyo-e exhibition, depicting intimate female moments with Japanese-inspired flatness and tenderness.
- Vincent van Gogh (Post-Impressionist, but closely tied) — Obsessively copied Hiroshige prints (e.g., Bridge in the Rain) and incorporated bold outlines, vibrant colors, and Japanese motifs into his work.
Overall Legacy
Japonisme provided a catalyst for Impressionism's radical innovations, validating their break from academic art toward modernity, subjectivity, and decorative beauty. It demonstrated that art could prioritize sensation, pattern, and the momentary over illusionistic depth. This cross-cultural exchange not only shaped Impressionism but influenced the broader trajectory of modern art, proving how non-Western traditions could invigorate European creativity.
