A tribute to Claude Monet for the 150th anniversary of his painting "Impression soleil levant"!

The Musée Marmottan-Monet offered us an original exhibition: "Facing the sun".
The masterpieces presented featured representations of the sun from the antiquity to the present day, which varied according to the progress of the astronomy. For the Egyptians and Greeks, the earth revolved around the sun. The paintings displayed varied from the solar disk of the Egyptians which was elevated to the rank of divinity, to Helios, the Greek God of the sun riding his quadriga. We could also admire the star darting its rays on the terrestrial globe representing Louis XIV. Other representations included the all-powerful sun dissolving the landscape by Munch and the pictograms of Miro, each painting expressing its own character and vision.
We learned that an American astronomer was able to formally determine when Claude Monet painted the work "Impression soleil levant", this based on the position of the sun in the sky. The famous painting illustrates the port of Le Havre on November 13, 1872 at exactly 7:35 am.
This dazzling exhibition on the representation of the sun in art shows how artists have altered their gaze through the centuries.

Annick Doutriaux