The Seine Near its Estuary, Honfleur
The Seine Near its Estuary, Honfleur, ca. 1868
Oil on canvas
48.1 x 73.7 cm (18 15/16 x 29 inches)
Bequest of George Pierce Metcalf 57.236
The River Seine, which winds through Paris, eventually connects to the Atlantic through its estuary near Honfleur. This was one of Claude Monet’s first attempts at painting this important and meandering waterway. It presents a quiet bank of the river bordered on one side by a farmhouse and a country road. Atmosphere and light envelop the simple composition, whose main features are the river itself and a blue-grey sky filled with soft, scudding clouds. The stillness of the view is barely ruffled by the barge making its way up the river or by the two flecks representing figures far along on the path.