Canal in Amsterdam

Canal in Amsterdam is a view by Claude Monet of the Groenburgwal, a canal in the old center of Amsterdam, looking toward the tower of the Zuiderkerk. Painted in 1874 and catalogued by Wildenstein as no. 308, it is the companion of The Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, painted from almost the same spot. It is in a private collection and is rarely exhibited.

What you're looking at

The canal runs straight away from us toward the church. Its surface is broken into short, glinting strokes of blue, violet and white, darker and colder than in the Philadelphia canvas. In the middle of the water a small rowing boat carries a standing figure and passengers, a dark shape with a pale reflection, the main incident of the picture.

The white Amsterdam drawbridge crosses the canal in the middle distance, its tall counterweight beam angled up against the sky, with a few dark figures on the low bridge beyond. On the left bank stands the small yellow-green hut with a dark roof and red chimney, and above it a mass of trees in blue-violet and purple, almost leafless. On the right, the tall gabled houses of the canal rise in shadow, with only a few patches of red, orange and cream on their facades. At the center the Zuiderkerk's tower climbs to the top of the canvas in blue and white, more silhouette than structure, against a pale sky of white and lilac cloud. The signature is at lower right.

Where and when it was painted

Monet made a short visit to Amsterdam, usually dated to 1874, three years after his first Dutch stay at Zaandam. He painted around a dozen views of the city: the harbor, the Montelbaanstoren, the Westerkerk and the Zuiderkerk. The Zuiderkerk, built in 1603–11 to designs by Hendrick de Keyser, was Amsterdam's first purpose-built Protestant church, and its tower is visible down several canals. The Groenburgwal, running in its shadow, offered a classic Dutch composition of water, bridge, gabled houses and spire.

How it was painted

The paint is applied in short, thick, separate strokes, and Monet relies on contrasts of warm and cool: the yellow hut and red chimney against the blue-violet trees, the occasional red facade against the shadowed houses. The tower is built up of small stacked dabs of blue and white so that it seems to dissolve into the hazy sky.

How this version differs

The two Groenburgwal canvases are almost the same size and share their composition, but they record different conditions. In the Philadelphia picture the sun is out: the right-hand houses glow cream and yellow, the sky is blue, and the water sparkles. In Canal in Amsterdam the light is cooler and hazier, the houses fall into shadow, the trees turn violet, and the rowing boat adds a note of activity. The pairing is an early example of the practice that would become central to Monet's work, painting the same motif under different light, which he later carried through series such as the Haystacks and Rouen Cathedral. Compare also the 1871 Dutch canvases Zaandam and Houses on the Zaan River at Zaandam.

Seeing the pair together

Because the Groenburgwal canvases are so close in size and design, they have often been used to show how early Monet began to think in terms of variations. Neither is a sketch for the other; both are finished pictures, signed, and each stands on its own. What changes between them is weather, time of day and mood, exactly the elements that would later become the whole subject of his series. Seen side by side, the cooler canvas makes the sunlit one look warmer, and the reverse.

Where to see it

The painting is in a private collection, and its owner is not publicly recorded. The Philadelphia version can be seen at the Philadelphia Museum of Art when on display. For museums with works by Monet, see where to see Monet's paintings.