À propos de l’œuvre
Des bateaux à Rouen sur la Seine, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · The port of Rouen in 1872 -1873 · National Gallery of Art
Ships on the Seine at Rouen W210hand painted reproduction
Two large ships at anchor raise their masts in front of the bell towers of Rouen. Their dark hulls and cream sails are reflected in a light blue Seine, while the hills and the port fade into the air: Monet gives a precise maritime scene the mobility of a luminous impression.
Look at the work
Two silhouettes of ships between the city and the sky
The first building advances towards the viewer from the left. Its black hull, marked with an orange anchor, carries a light sail whose triangular planes stand out against the blue. A second ship, placed further to the right, repeats this pattern on a reduced scale and opens the depth.
On the opposite bank, the spiers and towers of Rouen appear on the left, then a row of trees and small boats leads towards the port. The reflections lengthen the hulls without duplicating them exactly: the horizontal touches of the water break the masts and mix blue, green, ivory and ocher.
The ships are massive, but the water and sky make them almost mobile: each solid shape extends into vibrant color.
Composition, touch and light
What Monet builds behind the impression of snapshot
Three precise elements allow us to understand this composition and the essential difficulties of faithful reproduction.
Two ships to measure the distance
The difference in scale between the two hulls is enough to create a clear depth. However, the high masts connect the two planes in the same vertical frame.
The city as a discreet landmark
The buildings of Rouen are not architecturally detailed. Their silhouettes locate the port without distracting the attention of the boats and the light.
Reflections without symmetry
Under each ship, the shapes are stretched then interrupted by the chop. Monet retains the color correspondence while freely varying the gesture.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The high definition reference comes from the open image from the National Gallery of Art. It corresponds to the 1970.17.43 inventory and allows you to read orange anchors, rigging, Rouen bell towers and fragmentation of reflections.
An almost square balance
The compact format concentrates the ships in the center, while the sky and water share comparable surfaces.
Black people crossed with color
The hulls combine blue, brown and deep green; they thus maintain volume against the cream sails and the luminous sky.
A sandstone painted with economy
A few dark lines are enough to evoke cables and masts. Their relative precision contrasts with the more open touches of the landscape.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The National Gallery of Art documents this oil on canvas under inventory 1970.17.43 and number 210 of the Wildenstein catalog raisonné.
1872 - 1873
Monet painted this view of Rouen in the early 1870s, before the Impressionist vocabulary was named in the 1874 exhibition.
Ernest Hoschedé Collection
The painting belongs to the collector Ernest Hoschedé and appears in his Parisian sale of June 5, 1878, under number 48.
Legacy Ailsa Mellon Bruce
Ailsa Mellon Bruce acquired the work in 1955 and then bequeathed it in 1970 to the National Gallery of Art, where she took inventory 1970.17.43.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Respect the difference in scale and position between the two ships.
- Keep cream sails bright without making them uniformly white.
- Keep the Rouen bell towers legible but atmospheric on the left bank.
- Fragment the reflections with distinct horizontal touches of the rigging structure.
Work sheet
| Title | Ships on the Seine at Rouen W210 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1872 - 1873 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 37.7 × 46 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | National Gallery of Art, Washington, United States |
| Inventory | 1970.17.43 · Wildenstein 210 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
The light blue, ivory of the sails and deep hulls give this navy a presence that is both fresh and structured. It is suitable for an office, living room or water-facing room; a walnut, patinated black or matte gold frame underlines its compact format.
