Painting Collection

Claude Monet

Arm of the Seine near Giverny in the Fog

French, 1840-1926
Arm of the Seine near Giverny in the Fog
1897
oil on canvas
1964.6

36 1/2 x 35 inches

Claude Monet painted this picture as part of a series called
Mornings on the Seine, a study of the changing atmospheric
efects at dawn of this view of the river Seine, near his home in
Giverny. While working on these paintings between 1896 and
1897, the French Impressionist artist woke up at 3:30 in the
morning and boarded his small boat—his floating studio—to
arrive at a particular spot to paint before sunrise. In this picture,
the artist captures the misty, ethereal haze of dawn drenched in
soft purples and blue hues. There is almost no separation
between the tall trees and sky and their reflections, creating a
weightlessness in the composition.