The Museum at Le Havre (Le Musée du Havre), painted by Claude Monet in 1873, shows the harbor of Le Havre with the city's imposing fine arts museum and library rising behind a forest of moored sailboats, their pale sails nearly obscuring the building's façade. Broken, sketch-like brushwork animates the rippling harbor water and the fragmented reflections of the boats, while a muted palette of greys, blues, and browns, warmed by touches of orange, captures the atmosphere of an overcast northern French port. Painted during Monet's years at Argenteuil, the work reflects his regular return trips to Le Havre, the coastal city where he had grown up, and was notably purchased by fellow painter Giuseppe De Nittis, who exhibited alongside Monet in the first Impressionist exhibition of 1876.
Artist: Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926). Date: 1873.
The Museum at Le Havre (Le Musée du Havre), 1873 by Claude Monet. Impressionist Harbor Scene Wall Art Canvas Print.