Claude Monet’s ‘Ships Riding on the Seine at Rouen’ (1872/1873)

Claude Monet depicts two cream-sailed ships with dark rigging float on a shimmering ice-blue river in this nearly square landscape. The horizon divides the painting midway, with the ships silhouetted against a topaz-blue sky streaked with wispy clouds. Loosely painted brushstrokes create an impressionistic feel, leaving details indistinct. One ship sits near the left edge, the other slightly back and right of center, both with rust-orange anchors near their bows. Asparagus-green trees line the far riverbank, while spires and towers cluster on the left. Boats and reflections populate the water, framed by oatmeal-brown hills in the distance. Monet’s signature appears in the lower left.