Claude Monet

French, 1840-1926

Chemin de halage à Argenteuil (Towpath at Argenteuil, Winter)

Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926). Chemin de halage à Argenteuil (Towpath at Argenteuil, Winter), 1875-76. Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 39 3/8 inches (60 x 100 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Charles Clifton, 1919 (1919:8).

Public Domain

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Public Domain

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Public Domain

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Chemin de halage à Argenteuil (Towpath at Argenteuil, Winter), 1875-1876

Artwork Details

Currently on View

Collection Highlight

Materials

oil on canvas

Measurements

support: 23 5/8 x 39 3/8 inches (60.0075 x 100.0125 cm); framed: 32 1/2 x 48 x 4 7/8 inches (82.55 x 121.92 x 12.38 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Gift of Charles Clifton, 1919

Accession ID

1919:8

In 1871, following the end of the Franco-Prussian War, the newly wed Claude Monet moved from London to Argenteuil—a town located northwest of Paris on the River Seine. There, like his mentor Charles François Daubigny, Monet often worked from a boat-turned-studio in order to observe closely the effects of sunlight on the water. He remained in the area until 1876 and was joined for a time by artists Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883), and Alfred Sisley. From this point on, the picturesque town of Argenteuil became a hub of artistic activity. In 1874, Monet and his contemporaries organized the first independent Impressionist exhibition. Believed to have been painted the following year, Towpath at Argenteuil, Winter contrasts two landscapes. This serene winterscape dotted with smokestacks along the right of the horizon portrays country life against the backdrop of industrialization. A slight opening in the heavy overcast sky melts snow along the riverbanks, and the faint flush of green in the trees hints at spring and, for Monet, the beginning of a new chapter in his life with his wife Camille.