The prosperous port of Le Havre reflected France’s rebirth following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Other foggy figures behind them are “not trees but pack boat and steamship smokestacks, while on the right in the horizon are other sails and chimneys silhouetted against the skies.” Claude Monet removed existing dwellings on the left side of the jetty to display these industrial characteristics, leaving the scenery unobscured. There are more fishing boats in the middle ground, while there are clipper ships with tall masts on the left side of the background. The painting has two small rowboats in the foreground and the red Sun being the main focus. Impression, Sunrise depicts the famous port of Le Havre at Sunrise. The naming was attributed to the fact that Monet sought to escape criticisms and accusations of the painting lacking descriptive detail charges came up, regardless of the naming. Monet named the painting ‘Impression’ because of his hazy painting style in his depiction of the subject. The painting displays the port of Le Havre, Claude Monet’s hometown, and is now displayed at the Musee Marmottan Monet in Paris. The ‘Impression, Soleil levant’ known as ‘Impression, Sunrise’ in English is Monet’s first painting at the ‘Exhibition of the Impressionists’ in Paris (April 1874). It was the official art exhibition of the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Monet and his associates initiated the show as an alternative to the Salon. Claude Monet is the Master of Light and Color: “Impression, Sunrise” The concept of ‘Impressionism’ got its title from one of the most famous Monet paintings, ‘Impression, Soleil levant,’ exhibited in 1874 at an exhibition tagged the ‘exhibition of rejects. Claude Monet had a long career and was regarded as the most consistent practicing painter in impressionism and expressing one’s perception before nature, especially regarding landscape painting. Monet was born on 14th November 1840 and died on 5th December 1926. Claude Monet, the founder of impressionist painting and considered the critical precursor to modernism, was a French painter who primarily liked to paint nature as he observed it.

Claude monet impression sunrise 1874