Thanks to precise calculations of the sun's position and tide levels, researchers have definitively established that Claude Monet painted his masterpiece "Impression, Sunrise" in Le Havre on November 13, 1872, at exactly 7:35 AM. The groundbreaking investigation, completed in 2014 by a multidisciplinary team from Le Havre, finally solved the long-standing mystery surrounding the exact date and time when this iconic painting that gave birth to the Impressionist movement was created.
For years, art historians had debated the precise timing of when Monet captured this fleeting moment at dawn while positioned at the window of the Hotel de l'Amirauté overlooking Le Havre's port. The investigation was launched in 2014 when the Marmottan Museum in Paris, which houses the world's largest collection of Monet's works, decided to dedicate an exhibition to "Impression, Sunrise" and needed to provide the public with accurate contextual information.
The Marmottan Monet Museum contacted the André Malraux Museum (MuMa) in Le Havre to undertake this detective mission. Géraldine Lefebvre, a Monet specialist who now serves as director of MuMa, was tasked with assembling an investigative team to solve the mystery. She brought together an eclectic group of experts including the director of Le Havre's archives, the director of Le Havre's libraries, a former port engineer, and an American astrophysicist based in Texas.
"At the time, this astrophysicist was working on dating a Monet painting created in Étretat. He immediately agreed to participate in our research, on the condition that I send him all the necessary elements," Lefebvre explained. The team's interdisciplinary approach proved crucial in cracking the code that had puzzled art historians for decades.
The researchers were able to pinpoint the exact date and time through meticulous analysis of the painting's compositional elements and environmental factors. While the artwork was dated 1872 in Monet's own hand, some doubt had persisted about whether it might have been painted in 1872 or 1873. The team's scientific approach definitively resolved this uncertainty.
Lefebvre detailed the methodology that led to their breakthrough discovery: "In the work, the sea is at high tide, the transatlantic lock is open, and we can see a three-masted ship leaving the Eure basin. We also have the position of the sun, which is not the same in Le Havre's port in midsummer versus winter. By working on the point where Monet was located on the grand quai, the position of the sun, and meteorological elements like the position of the smoke and the timing of the tides, all these elements put together allowed us to find the dating of November 13, 1872, at 7:35 AM."
The painting "Impression, Sunrise" was exceptionally loaned from the Marmottan Museum in Paris to MuMa in Le Havre for the first time in 2017, marking the 500th anniversary of the city. This rare opportunity allowed residents of Le Havre to see the masterpiece in the very location where it was created, providing a unique connection between the artwork and its birthplace.
Looking ahead, MuMa will organize a major Monet exhibition in summer 2026 as part of the centennial commemoration of the artist's death. However, it has already been confirmed that the iconic "Impression, Sunrise" will not be part of this upcoming exhibition, making the 2017 showing all the more significant for art lovers and residents of the Norman port city.
