Customs House at Varengeville (La Cabane du Douanier, Varengeville), c. 1897 by Claude Monet

Customs House at Varengeville, painted by Claude Monet in 1897 depicts a small, red-roofed cabin perched atop a wildflower-covered clifftop near Varengeville-sur-Mer, the pale blue sea and sky glimpsed beyond in soft, broken brushstrokes. Originally built to house customs officers patrolling the Normandy coast, the modest structure had long since passed to local fishermen by the time Monet painted it. He returned to this isolated motif repeatedly across the 1880s and 1890s, using it to study how changing light transforms a fixed subject.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926). Date: 1897.

Customs House at Varengeville (La Cabane du Douanier, Varengeville), c. 1897 by Claude Monet. Normandy Coastal Canvas Print.