Painting: "Impression, Sunrise": a canvas under the microscope

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He's a superstar in art history. And yet, Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise has long held its share of mystery. Where was it painted? On what date, at what time? To answer the question, a veritable team of detectives had to be formed: an art historian, an archivist, a port engineer, and even an American astrophysicist. Months of work went into this discovery.

" It was in the Hôtel de la Myrothée (in Le Havre) that Monet settled in to paint Impression, Sunrise. He settled in a room on the second floor ," says Géraldine Lefebvre, art historian and specialist in the 19th century. That morning, Monet captured a fleeting impression. The ghostly lines of the port frozen in a spectral blue, then a touch of orange that he scattered across the surface of the sea. A title at last: Impression, Sunrise , which would give its name to the Impressionist movement. To determine his place of birth, the researcher relied on a letter in Monet's handwriting and on maps from the Napoleonic land register.

A quest that feels like a journey through time. " You're completely immersed in Monet's Havre. So that's fascinating. You're almost the young Monet, and you imagine this city with all the port activity, what he experienced, what he saw ," describes Géraldine Lefebvre.

Once the painter's location is known, investigators try to determine the exact date of its creation. To do this, they pore over a commercial almanac, analyze tide times, the viewing angle from the hotel, and even the curve of the sun. Thousands of data are processed in the United States. " We also understand more, in fact, what we see in the painting, since in Impression, Sunrise , we have vague shapes, we are in the mist somewhere. And there, we will identify more precisely what we see in the painting ," explains Pierre Beaumont, director of the Municipal Archives of Le Havre.

Two final clues will then prove decisive. " This is where the ships moored at the transatlantic pier exited, allowing them to leave for New York ." First, the lock. In the painting, it appears open, a synonym for high tide. A few centimeters away, the smoke escaping from the chimneys suggests an easterly wind. After a glance at the period survey and 150 years of mystery, the verdict is finally in. The painting was painted on November 13, 1872, at exactly 7:35 a.m.

" Today, Monet's masterpiece, Impression, Sunrise , bears the exact date that was found at the time of our investigation. So it's a great satisfaction for us. A great pride too ," assures art historian Géraldine Lefebvre. Of course, the canvas has revealed some of its mysteries, but it has lost none of its magic. Forever, Claude Monet's most famous painting.