The Customs House at Varengeville
Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)1897
View the original$24
Size · in
Secure checkout · powered by Stripe
Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
Claude Monet painted the customs house at Varengeville, on the Normandy coast of France, four times in 1882 and four more times in 1897. On each occasion he chose a similar vantage looking down on the small structure, which appears to grow out of the cliffside. The dimensions of this version are nearly identical to those of the other three canvases from the second visit. Here, Monet increased the amount of white in his paints to capture more nuanced atmospheric effects. He also experimented with techniques to animate the surface, at times scraping down or wiping away the still-soft paint to expose underlying colors. In the water, for example, breaks in the pale-gray paint reveal a bright green beneath, which the artist accentuated with additional touches of a similar green on top.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 65.6 × 92.8 cm (25 13/16 × 36 1/2 in.)
Museum record · 2 owners · 15 exhibitions
Provenance
- The artist (d. 1926); sold to Galerie Allard et Noel, Feb. 1899, for 6,000 francs.
- Maurice Masson, Paris, by Feb. 27, 1911; sold at the Maurice Masson, Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 22, 1911, lot 23, to Durand-Ruel, Paris, for 9,020 francs; sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, July 21, 1913 or Aug. 6, 1913; sold to Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, Feb. 10, 1914 for $7,500; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.
Exhibitions
- Possibly Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Claude Monet, June 1898 or 28, as Poste de Douaniers, à Varengeville, 1897.
- Possibly Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, Exposition Monet, 1906.
- Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, Collection Maurice Masson, Feb. 27–Mar. 15, 1911, as La cabane du douanier.
- Chicago, Stratford Hotel, Tableaux Durand-Ruel, late Jan.–early Feb. 1914.
- Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture; Lent from American Collections, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933.
- Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture for 1934, June 1–Oct. 31, 1934.
- University of Chicago, Lexington Hall, Nov. 17–Dec. 17, 1952, no cat. Art Institute of Chicago, The Paintings of Claude Monet, Apr. 1–June 15, 1957, no cat..
- S.C., Museum of Art, Impressionism: An Exhibition Commemorative of the Tenth Anniversary of the Columbia Museum of Art...
- Symbolic of Its Introduction of New Ideas into the World of Today, Apr. 3–May 8, 1960.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975.
- Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Monet in the ’90s: The Series Paintings, February 7–April 29, 1990; Art Institute of Chicago, May 19–August 12, 1990; London, Royal Academy of Arts, September 7–December 9, 1990.
- Florence, Sala Bianca di Palazzo Pitti, Claude Monet: La poesia della luce; Sette capolavori dell’Art Institute di Chicago a Palazzo Pitti, June 2–Aug. 29, 1999, no cat. no..
- St. Petersburg, FL, Museum of Fine Arts, Monet to Marisse: On the French Coast, February 7–May 31, 2015.
- San Antonio, TX, Monet, May 26, 2019-January 1, 2020.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Monet and Chicago, September 5, 2020-June 14, 2021.
