À propos de l’œuvre
Rue Saint Denis, fête du 30 juin 1878, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · The Parisian celebration of June 30, 1878 · Museum of Fine Arts of Rouen
Rue Saint-Denis, celebration of June 30, 1878 W470hand painted reproduction
From a high balcony, Monet looks down at rue Saint-Denis invaded by crowds and hundreds of tricolor flags. The depth opens between two facades, then narrows towards a thin gap in the sky. Painted on the day of a large celebration organized during the Universal Exhibition, the canvas transforms political history into a movement of red, white and blue.
Look at the work
A day of celebration becomes the image of a nascent Republic
The street descends from the bottom of the canvas towards the upper center. The crowd forms a dark and compact triangle which narrows with distance. From each facade oblique poles start; their flags cross above passers-by and fill almost all the available space.
On the right, a large white banner bears the abbreviated words "Long live the Republic". Further on, a banner crossing the street suggests "Long live France". These inscriptions remain taken from pictorial material: they are both political messages and light spots among pure colors.
The historical event is not told by a character: it bursts into the repetition of flags and the density of the crowd.
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 perspective seen from the balcony
The buildings converge towards the gap in the sky and the crowd suddenly narrows. This dive gives the viewer the feeling of being placed alongside the painter.
The flag as a unit of touch
Reds, whites and blues are placed in rapid sparks. Their multiplication dissolves the contours while maintaining an immediately readable rhythm.
Two triangles that respond to each other
The dark crowd rises from below; the clear sky descends between the facades. Their meeting in the center organizes a composition that is nevertheless saturated with signs.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The unique reference comes from the official Rouen museum file for inventory 909.1.34. The image of 2962 × 4205 px was reduced to 2113 × 3000 px, without enlargement, then converted to WebP.
An almost completely covered street
The facades remain visible, but the poles, banners and flags create a second, more mobile architecture above the crowd.
Three colors multiplied by light
No red, white, or blue is uniform. Monet varies their intensity depending on the shade, distance, and direction of the fabrics.
Fast but structured execution
Brushstrokes appear spontaneous, yet their density changes with depth. Nearby keys are wide; those in the distance tighten.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Rouen Museum of Fine Arts keeps this oil on canvas under inventory 909.1.34; the Wildenstein catalog classifies it under number 470.
The feast of June 30, 1878
Organized during the Universal Exhibition, this celebration of peace and work is the first major national holiday authorized since the war of 1870. It announces the affirmation of the Third Republic.
A painting purchased by Emmanuel Chabrier
The composer acquired the work on August 1, 1878. After his death, she joined the collection of François Depeaux, a major donor to the Rouen museum.
Presented to the impressionist public in 1879
Rue Saint-Denis appears in the fourth impressionist exhibition, organized on avenue de l'Opéra from April 10 to May 11, 1879, under number 154 of the catalog.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Maintain the plunging perspective and thin opening of the sky.
- Differentiate the size of flags according to their distance.
- Preserve the dark density of the crowd without transforming it into uniform mass.
- Keep inscriptions visible while integrating them into the key.
Work sheet
| Title | Rue Saint-Denis, celebration of June 30, 1878 W470 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1878 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 76 × 52 cm |
| Orientation | Vertical |
| Conservation | Museum of Fine Arts, Rouen, France |
| Inventory | 909.1.34 · Wildenstein 470 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Its vertical format and its very present reds, whites and blues make it a spectacular work for an entrance, a living room or an office. A soft black, patinated gold or walnut frame highlights the Parisian perspective and facades.
