Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
The Seine at Lavacourt, 1880
Oil on canvas
38 3/4 x 58 3/4 in. (98.4 x 149.2 cm)
Munger Fund, 1938.4.M

Monet executed The Seine at Lavacourt while living in Vétheuil, outside Paris, during the 1880s. This relatively large-scale composition was surely completed in the studio, based on plein-air sketches. Indeed, by the late 1870s and 1880s, the aesthetic principles originally at the heart of the impressionist movement—a focus on plein-air composition and the capturing of fleeting effects of light and color with deftly orchestrated individual brushstrokes—lost some of their importance as the artists followed their individual courses of development.

The strong horizontal axis of The Seine at Lavacourt is interrupted by the central inverted-pyramid of trees and their reflection on the water’s surface. This geometric structure invests the painting with calm and order, complementing the harmonious overall palette of spring green and delicate shades of blue. There was, perhaps, a practical inspiration for the careful structure in this composition. Monet struggled financially during these years, and to expand his public market, he attempted to reenter the official painting salons. The central motif of shrubbery and its reflection should remind us, however, of the almost abstract compositions—haystacks, poplars, water lilies—which came to dominate Monet’s development in the 1880s, 1890s, and first decades of the 20th century.