Rouen Cathedral: Claude Monet's series of paintings

Everything has a beginning, and a series of thirty paintings naturally starts with a first canvas. The two works that launched this series were painted in February 1892, during Monet's first stay in Rouen. They show two views of the northwest of the cathedral, from the Cour d'Albane, painted outdoors, followed by two views of the portal made from an empty apartment belonging to a Mr. Louvet.

Monet stayed in Rouen until April, then returned the following year for the same period, from February to April 1893. Twenty of his paintings of the cathedral were exhibited at the gallery of the dealer Durand-Ruel, where they met with considerable attention.

Monet's various canvases differ by the vantage point from which the cathedral is approached.

The Cour d'Albane appears in the first two paintings. One can make out part of the Saint-Romain tower, along with two houses leaning against it that no longer exist today. This courtyard corresponds to the site of the present-day cloister garden. These two views deserve particular attention: they are the only ones painted outdoors, offering an original perspective that captures only the lower part of a section of the cathedral.

Winter is hardly the ideal season for painting outdoors, especially in Normandy. To continue his series, Monet sought a sheltered spot, and Mr. Louvet, who owned a shop facing the cathedral, offered him an empty room above it. From there he painted the portal seen head-on. This sequence is also limited to two canvases, one of them left unfinished because it failed to satisfy the artist.

Back in Giverny, Monet was forced to change locations when building work began in the room he had been using. The new setting produced nine paintings capturing the portal in perspective.

Monet moved again, this time to a lingerie and fashion boutique that now houses the city's tourist office. Eleven canvases of the portal were painted from this angle.

The final paintings in the series were created from Mr. Mauquit's shop, Caprice, and depict the portal and the Saint-Romain tower in perspective.

Taken together, the Rouen Cathedral paintings reveal their full diversity, a series that did much to popularize the artist and secure his place in posterity. The work on light lies at the heart of what makes this series exceptional, in keeping with the spirit of the Impressionists. From dawn to dusk, the stone seems to change color before our eyes.

Be sure to discover another essential series from Monet's Giverny years, the Water Lilies, and do not miss the Haystacks.