Title: Le Fjord de Christiania (Oslo)
Artist: Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 65.2 x 101 cm
Date Created: 1895
Description
Claude Monet arrived in Norway on February 1, 1895, amidst a fierce winter storm. The long journey from Giverny had brought him through snowy Northern Europe to Christiania (now Oslo). While visiting his stepson was the primary reason for the trip, the promise of dramatic new motifs, extreme atmospheric effects, and intriguing light fueled his creative imagination.
Le Fjord de Christiania (Oslo) is one of only four paintings of the Norwegian fjords Monet produced during his visit. The artist had long been fascinated by winter’s transformative effects, recording the fleeting impressions of frost, ice, and snow. Disappointed by the transient winters at Giverny, he sought more enduring and majestic snow scenes in Norway.
Upon arrival, the city was shrouded in thick snow and fog. Monet soon succumbed to the idyllic local life and the majestic beauty of Norway’s expansive vistas. In a letter to his wife Alice, he described the wonder of a sleigh ride through the mountains: “What beautiful sights from these steep heights across immense, frozen lakes covered with snow!… The disappointment I felt on arrival has been succeeded by endless delight.”
Painted during the first two weeks of March near the village of Sandviken, this work belongs to a quartet of canvases. By late February, the thawing weather began to reveal open water. Monet wrote to his stepdaughter Blanche: “I was finally able to see the sea… It was marvelous.” The painting captures this precise view: the artist at the ice’s edge, depicting the fjord’s crystalline blue waters lapping against small, snow-covered islands, with distant mountains and sinuous, snow-laden banks.
Unlike his serene French effets de neige, this portrayal of the Norwegian fjord vibrates with movement and drama. One can almost hear the ice cracking and the water groaning beneath. The composition shows the influence of Hiroshige and Hokusai’s ukiyo-e prints, built through layered planes that create profound depth.
Image Download
Image Dimensions: 3200 x 2051 pixels
Image Size: 2.66 MB
Image Format: JPG
Print Resolution: 300 dpi
Download Format: ZIP Archive
License: Public Domain, Free for Commercial Use
