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The Customs House at Varengeville

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Compare the small house’s firm roofline with the less distinct sea, and look for green showing through the pale paint in the water.

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Monet had painted this Normandy customs house in 1882 and returned to it fifteen years later. This canvas belongs to the second group. Its layered surface includes passages where he scraped or wiped soft paint away, letting lower colors remain visible through the lighter tones above.

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Oil on canvas · 65.6 × 92.8 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Impressionism

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Museum title
The Customs House at Varengeville
Artist
Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
Date
1897
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
65.6 × 92.8 cm (25 13/16 × 36 1/2 in.); Framed: 83.5 × 110.2 × 5.7 cm (32 7/8 × 43 3/8 × 2 1/4 in.)
Credit line
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Image license
CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record
Art Institute of Chicago

Artist’s life 1840–1926

Impressionism c. 1860–1900

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Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.

The Customs House at Varengeville · Claude Monet, 1897
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The Customs House at Varengeville, Claude Monet

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