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Rouen Cathedral, Symphony in Grey and Rose, 1892-94
Oil on canvas
Monet painted over thirty views of the Gothic facade of Rouen cathedral in 1892 and 1893; all are dated 1894, after completion in Monet’s studio at Giverny. Of these, twenty were exhibited as a series the following year. The series was painted at different times of the day and in different weather conditions. This view was painted at dusk, with the correspondingly dramatic effect of twilight shadow. In some paintings, Monet treats the erosion of the masonry and sculpture with the same attention to quasi-geological detail he does when painting natural forms, such as the cliffs at Étretat. In this way he transforms a potent symbol of Christianity into a subject for scientific enquiry.
Critics who knew Monet well described his successive views of the cathedral in scientific rather than antiquarian or religious terms; they were, ‘ordered, classified, and completed in an achieved evolution.’
National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff, National Museums and Galleries of Wales
