Impression, Sunrise

Monet’s view of the harbour of Le Havre at dawn gave the Impressionist movement its name: critic Louis Leroy seized on the title for his satirical review of the group’s first independent exhibition in 1874. Painted in loose, sketchy strokes that favour atmosphere over detail, this small marine view became one of the most consequential pictures of the nineteenth century. It is held by the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris.