The Breakdown
- Original dimensions
- 99 x 60 cm
- Museum
- Oskar Reinhart Museum "Am Römerholz"
- Year
- 1880
Scene depicted
The scene depicted in The Debacle shows a flooded landscape, where glaciers pour into a panorama of boiling and tumultuous water. The reflections shimmer on the surface, creating an atmosphere that is both dramatic and serene, encapsulating the precise moment when nature asserts itself in all its majesty and brutality.
Historical context
Year: 1880 |BRK| Museum: Oskar Reinhart Museum "Am Römerholz" |BRK| Dimensions: 99 x 60 cm
Place in the artist's career
The Debacle stands as a milestone in Monet's career, illustrating his evolution towards a bolder and more expressive style. Alongside works such as Impression, Sunrise and The Water Lilies , this painting reveals the deepening of his exploration of light and movement, demonstrating an unprecedented artistic maturity.
Anecdote
“Light is the essence of painting,” said Monet. On that gentle spring morning, as he stood by the Seine, he was struck by the tumultuous beauty of the ice breakup. A natural event, blending strength and delicacy, that inspired the evocative power of this canvas .