A vast open-air studio for the most famous of Impressionist painters, Rouen and the Seine Valley around it can now provide you with an unforgettable Impressionist adventure. Like Monet, marvel at Rouen Cathedral and the way its façade changes in different lights. Like Pissarro and Sisley, admire the history-packed lanes, the magical river and the picturesque villages beside the Seine. Between 1892 and 1893, Claude Monet stayed more and more frequently in Rouen. The artist discovered the town’s artistic potential, especially with its cathedral, whose beauty entranced him. He unearthed a small studio for rent, right opposite the mighty building. From there, he had an unbeatable view of the great religious edifice.
Monet painted an extensive series, comprising some 30 canvases, with Rouen’s Notre-Dame Cathedral as the subject. Today, these works are dispersed around the world. In the post-Impressionist period, a prestigious school of painting opened in town, the Ecole de Rouen. Here, renowned artists were trained, such as Lebourg, Angrand and Delattre, adopting the Seine, its banks and meanders, with their ever-changing, misty atmosphere, as their favourite subject, depicting these obsessively.