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Impressionism/Post-Impressionism
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Le Moulin de l´Onbekende Gracht, Amsterdam (The Windmill on the Onbekende Canal, Amsterdam)
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Claude Monet
Le Moulin de l´Onbekende Gracht, Amsterdam (The Windmill on the Onbekende Canal, Amsterdam)
1871
Oil on canvas
98.293
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In the summer of 1870, at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Claude Monet fled to England; there he remained until the following year, returning to France by way of Holland. He was attracted by the landscape of the low countries and the picturesque Dutch windmills, which appear frequently in the paintings made during his stay in Holland. Intrigued by the reflections of light on water, a recurrent theme in early Impressionist paintings, Monet painted the shimmering surface of the canal with the same substantial brush strokes he employed in the gabled buildings. It was in Amsterdam that he painted the Rozenboom mill on the Onbekende Canal. The mill extracted dyes from yellow, red, and blue wood that was cut by convicts from Amsterdam´s penitentiary. The introduction of chemical dyes put the mill out of business. It was torn down in 1876 and replaced by the theater Carré, but the windmill, long a picturesque landmark, continued to be reproduced by artists.
Gift of Audrey Jones Beck
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Related Exhibitions & Collections:
Impressionism/Post-Impressionism
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