Paris, 1863–1906

Claude Monet

Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight

1894

Oil on canvas, 39 1/2 × 26 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington

Look at the surface: the stone front is built from thick, crusted paint.

Look at

• The paint is rough and lumpy, like the stone it shows.
• Up close, the carvings break into patches of white, yellow, blue and pink.
• The façade fills almost the whole canvas; blue sky shows only between the towers.
• Tiny figures at the lower left show the building's scale.

• Monet worked on it in a room facing the cathedral, then finished it at Giverny.

Image: National Gallery of Art Open Access · Public domain