Breaking ground for Impressionism: Le Havre's harbor and Claude Monet
Explore five captivating French locales that sparked the imagination of Impressionist artists, such as Monet's water gardens and the cradle of the movement in Normandy.
Trace the roots back to 1872 when the birthplace of Impressionism, the harbor of Le Havre in Normandy, first played its part. Young Claude Monet, a budding artist, sketched boats bobbing in the mist - that very morning of 13 November - and titled the painting Impression, Sunrise. Little did he know, he had just given an iconic modern art movement its moniker...
Giverny: Monet's legendary water garden
Stroll an hour and a half from Paris to Giverny, a village imbued with Impressionist magic since Monet moved there in 1893. Adapting the River Epte's course, he crafted a Japanese-style water garden with its water lily pond, Japanese bridge, and exotic flora. These surroundings echo vividly in the Water Lilies series, boasting a staggering 250 paintings in the world's most respected museums.
Chatou's Impressionist Island: a boater's haven
Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881), a global art sensation, resides in Washington's Phillips Collection. Renoir painted this masterpiece during his time at Maison Fournaise, a guinguette on the island of Chatou near Paris. This place was a hub for Impressionists, with Sisley, Monet, Caillebotte, Degas, and Manet all setting up their easels on this celebrated strip of land, now known as "Impressionist Island."
Montmartre's creative haven: a playground for painters
The former village of Montmartre in Paris became a vibrant artistic colony in the late 19th century. From Pissarro to Renoir, Van Gogh to Degas, the greatest European painters congregated to capture the essence of this haven in their works. Nowadays, you can trace these canvases to Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, or Neo-Impressionist masterpieces.
Sainte-Victoire mountain in Provence: a muse for Cézanne
Cezanne's work and the rugged Sainte-Victoire mountain in Provence form a bond that subjected his art to history. In total, almost 80 paintings by Cézanne, including Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from Bellevue (1885), preserved in New York's MET, portray this 1,011-meter peak.
French art would never be the same after the groundbreaking Impressionists stepped foot in their unique landscapes, forever challenging and expanding the boundaries of artistic expression.
Despite Monet's en-vols to various French landscapes for his lifestyle and travel, the waters of Giverny's water garden undoubtedly left the most profound impact on his work, as evidenced in the Water Lilies series. Similarly, other Impressionists, including Renoir, found inspiration on Impressionist Island in Chatou, a boater's haven that showcased their collective talents.
