À propos de l’œuvre
Chasse-marée à l'ancre, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · A commercial sailboat on the Seine in 1871 -1872 · Orsay
Tidal chaser at anchor W207hand painted reproduction
A black tidal fighter is immobilized on a wide and calm river, its masts and ropes erected against a gray-blue sky. The bank of Rouen is reduced to trees, a few houses and a green strip. Monet gives the ship its full scope without resorting to a spectacular scene: the hull, the rigging and their reflections are enough to make the weight of the boat felt in a humid atmosphere.
Look at the work
The rigging draws architecture on the sky
The main boat is placed slightly to the right of the center. Its dark, long and low hull is topped by a network of inclined masts, yards and ropes. A second sailboat is superimposed behind it, which densifies the rigging and creates the impression of a small group of ships at anchor.
The opposite bank remains very low: slender trees, houses with red roofs and a long green boat line up below the horizon. In the water, the reflections of the hulls break into short verticals. The vast gray sky, barely modulated, gives the ship a monumental scale.
The boat does not move, but the masts, shrouds and reflections multiply the directions and keep the whole scene in tension.
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.
A dark mass placed on a light line
The hull concentrates deep blacks and blues in the center. The water and sky, much paler, isolate it with a clarity that remains atmospheric.
A network of lines without dry drawing
Masts and ropes are precise in their position but vary in thickness and color. Many get lost in the sky before reappearing further down.
An almost still horizon
The shore develops horizontally behind the boat. Its muted greens and small vertical trees stabilize the oblique movement of the rigging.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The single reference corresponds to the RF 1677 inventory of the Musée d'Orsay. Public domain photography of 3,472 × 2,152 px was optimized to 3,000 × 1,859 px, without enlargement, then encoded in WebP.
A hull described by a few plans
The bow, planking and waterline are differentiated by black, gray and blue bands. Their ratio must retain the heaviness of the ship.
A gray sky crossed by blue
The surface appears plain from a distance, but long passages of pale blue, beige and warm gray give it a misty depth.
Reflections interrupted by the current
The silhouettes are not repeated like in a mirror. Vertical touches are cut by small horizontal gestures that suggest the surface of the river.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Musée d'Orsay keeps this oil on canvas measuring 48 × 75 cm under the inventory RF 1677; the Wildenstein catalog classifies it under number 207.
A river subject located in Rouen
The museum's indexing identifies Rouen and Seine-Maritime. The tidal fighter, a sailing cargo ship, places the work in the commercial activity of the river.
A work owned by François Depeaux
The great Rouen collector kept the painting until its sale in 1901. Bernheim-Jeune and Durand-Ruel bought it together before its transmission to Étienne Moreau-Nélaton.
The Moreau-Nélaton gift of 1906
Accepted that year by the State, the painting passed through the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Louvre and the Jeu de Paume, then joined the Musée d'Orsay in 1986.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Maintain the exact position of masts, yards and dark bow.
- Maintain the contrast of the vessel without evenly blackening the hull.
- Preserve the lower bank and the small red roofs behind the rigging.
- Return reflections with fragmented vertical touches in gray-blue water.
Work sheet
| Title | Tidal chaser at anchor W207 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | Between 1871 and 1872 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 48 × 75 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France |
| Inventory | RF 1677 · Wildenstein 207 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This panoramic navy brings a sober presence to a living room, office or dining room. A soft black, smoked oak or aged silver frame accompanies the grays and blues of the river.
