Impressionism and its aftermath, room by room
This room brings together canvases by Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne painted between the 1870s and the turn of the century — a group that shows Impressionism both at its high point and in the tensions that ran through the movement, notably over the question of the official Salon.
1. A two-canvas strategy
In 1880, after several years exhibiting only at the independent Impressionist shows, Monet, short of money, decided to try his luck again at the official Salon at the Louvre, which he had deserted after a rejection in 1870. He deliberately prepared two paintings: a view of Lavacourt he judged "wiser, more bourgeois" in his own words, meant to please the jury, and a second, more experimental canvas he knew was a risk. He wrote to a friend that he was playing "a big game," while already being called a coward by his former Impressionist companions over this attempt to return to the Salon.
2. The rejected painting, now at the Petit Palais
Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt, Winter Effect, the more experimental of the two canvases, showing the breaking ice on the Seine, was rejected by the 1880 Salon jury — it was the more conventional version that was accepted and exhibited. The painting held at the Petit Palais therefore shows Monet's more personal vision from this period, the very one the official Salon judged too bold.
How much time
Look for the date 1880 on the label: it's the year Monet gambled, and lost, his bet with the official Salon.
- Lavacourt, Winter Effect (Monet) — 8 minutes.
- The rest of the room (Sisley, Pissarro, Cézanne) — 12 minutes.
Sources and verification
Checked against the official notices of the Petit Palais (petitpalais.paris.fr / parismuseescollections.paris.fr) and cross-checked with Wikipedia EN/FR.
- Petit Palais — Soleil couchant sur la Seine à Lavacourt, effet d'hiver
- Wikipédia FR — Soleil couchant sur la Seine, effet d'hiver
- DailyArt Magazine — Masterpiece Story: Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt, Winter Effect
- Paris Musées Collections — Soleil couchant sur la Seine à Lavacourt, effet d'hiver
Displays and room openings can change. Check the Petit Palais website on the day of your visit before following a route.
Continue your visit
Petit Palais, Paris
Listen to the commentary in the gallery
This route gives you a thread to follow. In front of an artwork, CulturAll adds the audio commentary: photograph the work or its label, listen, then ask your questions.
