The Wrong Impression Sunrise by Claude Monet? The Mystery of the Painting that Named a Movement
- Art d'Histoire
- Jan 25
- 3 min read
The history of art seems built on certain unshakeable pillars, and few are as foundational as Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise. Funnily enough, this title, which was destined to make history, was given by Claude Monet in haste when his companion pressed him to provide one for the catalogue. Kept at the Musée Marmottan in Paris, this canvas is revered as the holy grail of Modernism—the specific work that, when exhibited in 1874, inspired the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term "Impressionist." However, a meticulous examination of archives and catalogues suggests a startling possibility: we may have been worshipping the wrong painting for decades. The painting displayed in 1874 might not be the famous canvas in Paris, but a lesser-known work now residing in Los Angeles.
The Problem of the Masts
The first crack in the official narrative comes from the artist's own description. When speaking about the painting exhibited in 1874, Monet explicitly mentioned "ship masts pointing into the distance." However, when one looks at the celebrated Impression, Sunrise at the Musée Marmottan, the foreground is dominated by small boats and the reflection of the sun, but it lacks the distinct, prominent masts pointing into the background that the painter described.
This discrepancy points towards another candidate: the painting Sunrise (Marine), currently held at the Getty Museum. This work, which dates from the same year (1872 or 1873) and shares the same dimensions, features a composition where the masts of ships are clearly visible in the foreground and point dramatically into the distance, aligning perfectly with Monet's memory. Both paintings belonged to the same collector, Dr. Georges de Bellio, a fact that may have contributed to the historical confusion between the two works.
Setting or Rising?
The second piece of evidence lies in the sun itself. The painting at the Marmottan is universally titled Impression, Sunrise. Yet, visual analysis suggests that the atmospheric effects captured on the canvas—specifically the positioning and the quality of the light—may actually depict a sunset in the west rather than a sunrise in the east.
This theory is supported by the sales catalogue of Ernest Hoschedé from 1878, where the painting purchased by Dr. de Bellio was listed not as a sunrise, but as The Impression. Sunset. If the Marmottan painting is indeed a sunset, then the title attached to the 1874 exhibition, which explicitly refers to a "Sunrise," may belong to a different canvas—likely the Getty's Sunrise (Marine), which clearly depicts the morning light.
The Rule of Novelty
The final argument rests on Monet’s exhibiting habits. The painter had a strict rule of never showing the same painting twice in the group's exhibitions. Records show that in the fourth Impressionist exhibition of 1879, Monet displayed a work titled Effect of Fog, Impression, which was on loan from Dr. de Bellio.
Most art historians have assumed this was a re-exhibition of the Marmottan’s Impression, Sunrise. However, if Monet strictly adhered to his rule of novelty, he would not have shown the 1874 painting again in 1879. This leads to a logical deduction: the painting shown in 1879 (the Marmottan canvas) was the "Effect of Fog," while the painting shown in 1874 (the Getty canvas) was the true "Sunrise" that sparked the scandal. The confusion likely arose because both paintings depict similar subjects, were painted in the same year, and ended up in the same collection, leading history to conflate the "Effect of Fog" with the legendary "Impression."
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