The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect

Claude Monet had seen the largest harbor in the world in London. Soon after his return to France, he painted Impression: Sunrise in Le Havre, where he had spent his childhood. The work remains Monet’s most iconic composition and was shown at the First Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1874. Monet painted this companion piece from the same vantage point, a nocturnal scene executed with the same sketch-like determination. Dabs of white paint represent modern gas lighting.