Monet's Steam

Claude Monet, Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago.

When most people think of Monet, they picture landscapes or water lilies. I love those paintings. But I especially love Monet’s urban scenes, like this train station. He fulfills the Impressionist mission to find worthy art subjects outdoors and in ordinary life just as potently in the city as in nature. He also shows his eye for light and color. The steam from the engine under the iron and glass roof is a mixture of gray, blue, and green—the colors he uses throughout the station. But the steam outside in the distance is brilliant white.