Monet's Series Paintings - Rouen Cathedral
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Find out about Monet's series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral
This website provides an overview and compendium of the complete series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral by Claude Monet - and where you can see them.
Monet began the paintings in January or early February 1892. He visited Rouen on three occasions and completed 20 views of Rouen Cathedral between March 1892 and Feb-April 1893.
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- The motif - Rouen Cathedral
- Rouen Cathedral in Full Sunlight: Harmony in Blue and Gold, 1894
- Rouen and its Cathedral - background
- Location and Dates
- How Monet painted Rouen Cathedral
- Making A Mark posts about Monet series
- Articles about Monet's Rouen Cathedral Series
- Rouen Cathdral in the Musee d'Orsay
- Rouen Cathedral, Blue Harmony, Morning Sunlight, 1894
- Rouen Cathedral in the National Gallery of Art
- Rouen Cathedral in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Rouen Cathedral in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight, 1894
- Monet and Series paintings
- Photos of Rouen Cathedral
- Comments and Feedback
- Rouen Cathedral, Foggy Weather, 1894
- More resources for art lovers
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"To me the motif itself is an insignificant factor," Monet said. "What I want to reproduce is what exists between the motif and me.
Cathedrale de Rouen, Plein Soleil
by Claude Monet
The motif - Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral is a Gothic cathedral in Rouen, in northwestern France. It's the seat of the Archbishop of Rouen and the building of Notre dame Cathedral started in 1200 and contains nearly the entire history of the Gothic style over a period of some 400 years. In the middle ages it's also where the kings of France were crowned.
Rouen is also situated some 60 kilometres from Giverny and is a city which Monet - and the French - knew well.
When looked at from the perspective of his paintings prior to 1892, the important thing to note is that he had never before before focused on one building or architectural element or even painted one motif as often as he did with Rouen Cathedral and its facades.
It's maybe important to note that Turner - the other great painter of atmosphere and light - had also created an engraving of Rouen Cathedral as part of his series on River Scenery in France.
The novelty of working with one motif meant that it became imbued with meaning. Hayes Tucker points to the religious revival in France in the 1890s and the fact that a Gothic Cathedral was a distinctly French symbol. Importantly Gothic was perceived in the 1890s as being symbolic
Rouen Cathedral in Full Sunlight: Harmony in Blue and Gold, 1894
Rouen Cathedral in Full Sunlight: Harmony in Blue and Gold, 1894
Claude Monet
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Rouen and its Cathedral - background
articles on Wikipedia
- Rouen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Rouen is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) région. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th century to the 15th century.
- Rouen Cathedral - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Rouen Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen) is a Gothic cathedral in Rouen, in northwestern France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Rouen.
- Rouen Cathedral - Rouen, France
- Rouen Cathedral: History, description, photos and visitor information for Rouen Cathedral in Rouen, Normandy, France.
- Google - map of Rouen Cathedral and the places where Monet painted
- map of Rouen Cathedral and the places where Monet painted
Location and Dates
The Location
Monet's home area is Normandy. Rouen is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) région.
The dates
Monet began the paintings in January or early February 1892. He visited Rouen on three occasions and completed 20 views of Rouen Cathedral between March 1892 and Feb-April 1893.
The paintings were painted from the second stories of 23, place de la Cathédrale (1892) and 81, rue Grand-Pont (1893), but were later finished in the artist's studio at Giverny, where they were worked on together and interrelated as a group. Hence, most are signed and dated 1894,
How Monet painted Rouen Cathedral
1892 visit
He did a number of studies of different facades. He most often painted the cathedral from a southwestern vantage point - near to where the Tourist Office is now situated on the corner of the Rue Petit Salut and the Place de la Cathedrale
According to Hayes Tucker this site had several benefits:
* it permitted Monet to see most of the facade
* created a view which contrasted in the shorter tower on the left (north) - the Tour d'Albane - with the much taller tower on the right - the Tour de Berre
* gave him the best view as the sun passed around and across the facade of the entrance to the cathedral. It rises from behind the Tour d'Albane and creates a silhouette of the cathedral in the morning and then bathes the whole facade in light in the afternoon.
To start with Monet worked in an apartment which he had rented on the second floor of a building opposite the Cathedral. This would give more of a sense of looking at the building rather than looking up at the building. Then after a short break, he moved his studio to the front room of a shop on the square and was now at an angle rather than directly across from the Cathedral.
He moaned and groaned to friends and family during the project in terms of the difficulties he was encountering in terms of the complexity of the motif and the light! He changed his mind about treatments, experienced setbacks and continued to add and subtract from the paintings. Eventually he had nightmares! The description of the process in Monet in the 90s is riveting and not for the faint-hearted!
1893 visit
He returned to Giverny in April 1892 (for various reasons including his coming marriage to Alice in July 1892) and did not return to Rouen again until February 1893 to capture the same weather and light conditions. This time his studio was located at a slightly different angle - and this is where he painted the views which include the edges of houses on the left. Again he returned to the despair he'd experienced the previous year. The main problem seems to have been that he wanted the paintings to all be very good and found it depressing to be unable to achieve what he wanted.
However the outcome is successful - even if it's very different from previous paintings
Making A Mark posts about Monet series
- Why and how Monet developed his series paintings
- This post looks at:
* why Monet painted series paintings
* when he painted his series paintings
* the various reasons leading to his choice of subject matter
* which paintings are regarded as part of his series paintings
* and finally, how he actually designed and painted the series paintings from a practice perspective. - Monet's series paintings - stacks of wheat
- About the motif, design and execution of the series of paintings of stacks of wheat
- Monet's series paintings - Rouen cathedral
- About the series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral
Articles about Monet's Rouen Cathedral Series
- The Independent - Great Works: Rouen Cathedral: The Portal, Grey Weather (1892) by Claude Monet
- Monet's paintings are filled with river vapour, city smog, morning and evening mist. His series of Rouen Cathedral offers more than 30 views of the façade in different lights and different blurs. Rouen Cathedral: The Portal, Grey Weather is one of the more blurry depictions. What does Monet see in mist?
- Claude Monet - The Rouen Cathedral series by Monet
- Claude Monet - The Rouen Cathedral Portal series by Monet - an analysis of the paintings considered to be the climax of Impressionism
- NGA - Painters and tourists in Normandy
- This summary by the NGS covers the development of painting in Normandy and has a section on Monet's paintings of Rouen Catheral.
Before about 1750 Europeans were not much interested in the seaside as a place
to be-oceans were considered dangerous necessities of commerce and transportation, fishing and war. It was in England that large numbers of people first began to enjoy the beach. So perhaps it is not surprising, given England and Normandy's shared history and proximity, that Normandy welcomed early beach goers in France, and that they were mostly a mix of French and English tourists.
As railroads made access easier, a developed tourist infrastructure arose, often backed by English money. Many of the pictures in this section were painted along the English Channel, which forms Normandy's northern limit.
Views painted by artists "advertised" Normandy's attractions, and tourists' enjoyment of local sites, in turn, increased demand for landscape painting. - NGA - Claude Monet - The Series Paintings
- In late January or early February 1892, Monet rented rooms across from Rouen cathedral. He remained until spring, painting its looming façade many times, most often as we see it here, close up and cropped to the sides. The next winter he returned to paint the cathedral again, making in all more than thirty views of it. But it was not so much the deeply carved Gothic façade that was Monet's subject as it was the atmosphere - the enveloppe - that surrounded the building.
Rouen Cathdral in the Musee d'Orsay
paintings by Claude Monet
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail et la tour Saint-Romain, plein soleil
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail et la tour Saint-Romain, plein soleil
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail et la tour Saint-Romain, effet du matin
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail et la tour Saint-Romain, effet du matin
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail, soleil matinal
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail, soleil matinal
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail, soleil matinal
- La cathédrale de Rouen. Le portail, soleil matinal
Rouen Cathedral, Blue Harmony, Morning Sunlight, 1894
by Claude Monet
Rouen Cathedral, Blue Harmony, Morning Sunlight, 1894
Claude Monet
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Rouen Cathedral in the National Gallery of Art
paintings by Claude Monet
- Rouen Cathedral, West Façade
- Claude Monet (artist) French, 1840 - 1926
Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, 1894
oil on canvas
Overall: 100.1 x 65.9 cm (39 3/8 x 25 15/16 in.) / framed: 121.6 x 88.3 cm (47 7/8 x 34 3/4 in.)
Chester Dale Collection
Exhibition History
1895: Exposition des Tableaux, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1895, no. 20.
1896: Marvellous Paintings of Cathedral Rouen by Claude Monet, The American Art Galleries, New York, 1896, uncertain cat. no.
1965: The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.
1980: Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Painting 1880-1906, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980, no. 28 (incorrect repro. of 1963.10.179, Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight). - Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight
- Claude Monet (artist) French, 1840 - 1926
Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight, 1894
oil on canvas
Overall: 100.1 x 65.8 cm (39 3/8 x 25 7/8 in.) /
framed: 127.6 x 91.4 cm (50 1/4 x 36 in.)
Chester Dale Collection
Exhibition History
1917: Exhibition of Paintings by Modern French Masters, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1917, no. 10, as Rouen Cathedral - Symphony in Gray.
1922: Paintings by Contemporary English and French Painters, The Brooklyn Museum, 1922-1923, no. 176, as Cathédrale de Rouen, symphonie en gris.
1923: French Impressionist Paintings, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1923, no cat.
1926: Exhibition of Paintings by The Impressionists, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1926, no. 11, as La cathédrale de Rouen.
1927: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Claude Monet, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1927, no. 20, as Cathedrale de Rouen.
1933: Exhibition of Masterpieces by Claude Monet 1840-1926, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1933, no. 10, as La Cathédrale de Rouen.
1965: The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.
Rouen Cathedral in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
paintings by Claude Monet
- Claude Monet: Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (Sunlight) (30.95.250) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (Sunlight), 1894
Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)
Oil on canvas
39 1/4 x 25 7/8 in. (99.7 x 65.7 cm)
Signed and dated (lower left): Claude Monet 94
Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915 (30.95.250)
In 1892-93, Monet painted more than thirty views of Rouen Cathedral. Moving from one canvas to another as the day progressed, Monet painted the facade with highly textured brushstrokes that both convey the aspect of sculpted stone and make the atmosphere and light palpable.
In 1895, Monet successfully exhibited twenty of his cathedral pictures at Durand-Ruel's gallery in Paris. This one was titled Le Portail (Soleil), or The Portal (Sunlight).
Rouen Cathedral in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Rouen Cathedral Façade and Tour d'Albane (Morning Effect) 1894
- Rouen Cathedral Façade and Tour d'Albane (Morning Effect) 1894
Claude Monet, French, 1840-1926
106.1 x 73.9 cm (41 3/4 x 29 1/8 in.)
Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Lower left: Claude Monet 1894
Object is currently not on view
Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight, 1894
Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight, 1894
Claude Monet
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Monet and Series paintings
BOOKS: Monet and the Rouen Cathedral series
books on Amazon
Views of Monet Cathedral
posters on Amazon
Claude Monet - Rouen Cathedral in the Evening
Making A Mark
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bigoyaseo
Sep 30, 2011 @ 6:12 am | delete
- hi really a great lens on paintings of Monet. i appreciate your work . i bought many art reprints from wahoo.com
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TheWhistler
Apr 9, 2011 @ 7:21 pm | delete
- A more than interesting lens. I honestly have to say I didn't know that he had painted the Cathedral so many times.
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JaguarJulie
Oct 5, 2010 @ 4:54 pm | delete
- Gosh, I did not know that Monet painted that cathedral -- I am more familiar with his other works.
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Rouen Cathedral, Foggy Weather, 1894
by Claude Monet
Rouen Cathedral, Foggy Weather, 1894
Claude Monet
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