Le Dam à Zaandam, le soir

In 1870, the French, spoiling for war, embarked upon the disastrous campaign that led to their forces' defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Claude Monet, newly married and concerned for the wellbeing of his family, left France, first staying in London and then in Holland. During this period, Monet found many of the interests and influences that had marked him throughout his artistic development coming together in new ways. In London he had seen Pissarro, while in Holland the fact that he was in the homeland of his former teacher, Jongkind, must have had deep resonances for him. At the same time, Pissarro may have influenced Monet's decision to visit Zaandam in 1871 as he had known the town himself. Surrounded by water, the flat land giving the sky a dominance that other more variegated landscapes could not afford him, this was a perfect location in which Monet could intensely devote himself to studying the various effects of light.

Le Dam à Zaandam, le soir is one of a series of four views that Monet painted of the Dam during his stay, the others showing various other angles at various times of the day. In this dusk-filled image, the houses of the Dam occupy the right hand area while the light of the evening sky is gently reflected in the water, while the houses are more shaded, providing a contrast and increasing the sense of increasing darkness as night approaches. The picture appears to have been painted from a position close to the Hotel de Beurs, where the Monets were staying. This evocative image of boats and the almost palpable feeling Monet translates of the evening recall the influence of Monet's early mentor, Eugène Boudin with the pennants fluttering aloft the masts. There is a freshness, a breeziness, that Monet has effortlessly harnessed on canvas. The small blocks of colour that he has used in painting the water give both a sense of reflection and of the shimmering water rippling in a breeze.