Title: Coucher de soleil à Lavacourt
Artist: Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 54.1 x 81 cm
Date Created: 1880
Description
Painted in 1880, Coucher de soleil à Lavacourt captures a transient winter sunset over the village of Lavacourt on the Seine. This work belongs to a series where Monet documented the severe winter and subsequent ice breakup near his home in Vétheuil. With snapshot immediacy, he translated the chaotic beauty of the thaw into vibrant color and light.
Monet immersed himself in the harsh conditions, chasing ephemeral effects during the short northern days. The painting shows a fiery sun descending into a twilight sky bruised with purples and grays, its light reflecting over the ice-ravaged landscape. This pursuit of fleeting impressions stemmed from his deep commitment to plein air painting, a practice he championed as essential for capturing truth.
Created after the death of his wife Camille, the work resonates with emotional depth, framing nature’s powerful transformation as a silent, visual elegy. Critic Théodore Duret celebrated Monet’s ability to seize such transient moments, noting how this very approach gave the Impressionist movement its name. The painting stands as a testament to Monet’s belief that art must be born from direct, unmediated encounter with the living world.
Image Download
Image Dimensions: 1307 x 875 pixels
Image Size: 329 KB
Image Format: JPG
Print Resolution: 300 dpi
Download Format: ZIP Archive
License: Public Domain, Free for Commercial Use
