World History and Culture: Yekaterinburg to host the exhibition "Claude Monet. The Grand Quai at Le Havre" from the collection of the State Hermitage

The Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts launched an exhibition of a masterpiece from the collection of the State Hermitage. The exposition features Claude Monet's painting "The Grand Quai at Le Havre".

Claude Monet (1840–1926) may be described as a "model impressionist": he worked in the open air, trying not only to depict the view but to convey its light and air unsteadiness.

Le Havre was Claude Monet's hometown. Studying in Paris, he returned there many times and painted a dozen landscapes at different times. The city harbour was very popular with the artists of that time. However, an ordinary painting included the images of ships and city embankments with buildings. The view chosen by Claude Monet is unique in this series.

The artist observes the Grand Quay at Le Havre from above. On the one hand, it allows to show the turmoil of harbour life, and on the other hand, does not demand to paint details. Monet defined this landscape in the exhibition catalogue as a sketch, although many impressionists turned the visible incompleteness of their paintings into the distinctive feature. Supposedly, the artist understood the extreme art freedom of his painting.

Since 2014, the East Wing of the General Staff Building houses the collections of European art of the XIX and XX centuries. This branch of the State Hermitage had been opened after a long restoration. Claude Monet's picture "The Grand Quai at Le Havre" entered the permanent exhibition of new French painting, which also features lots of the artist's masterpieces, including "Shchukin and the Morozov Brothers Gallery". This picture reflects the rich improvisational style of Claude Monet, who worked in the most daring years in the history of impressionism.