Claude Monet Argenteuil Poster 20X30 Art Print

Argenteuil
Claude Monet - 1875

Description of Original: oil on canvas

Around 1875, Monet painted a series of views of sailboats at anchor in the basin of Argenteuil. Only the framing and the provision of boats vary from one canvas to another. In this version, vermilion red shells are featured at the center of the composition. They form a striking contrast with the blue sky and complementary water and green vegetation floating on the surface of the Seine. The whole is punctuated by the white keys of the sails and hulls of those overseas and left the shimmering river. The sky and the water surface are a pretext for the study of light reflection.

The key is much more divided than in the famous "Regatta at Argenteuil" painted three years earlier. The vertical lines of the masts rhythm and structure composition. The prospect is not entirely faithful to the traditional rules. Instead of converging toward a single vanishing point, it seems to diverge into two vanishing points on the right and left vessels.

Compared to paintings from previous years this version enhances the bucolic character of the site. Monet eliminates any sign of modernization. Factory chimneys visible in certain views of the port of Argenteuil are here totally erased.

With its theme, technique, vivid colors this work is quite representative of Impressionism at its peak.

Located in the Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris