The Fisherman's House

The Fisherman’s House, by Claude Monet, is a relatively small oil on canvas painting, measuring at only 60 cm by 78 cm. Although this size may seem disappointing to an onlooker, the size of the painting only adds to the already simple nature of the artwork. Situated near the rocky cliffs of Varengeville in northern France, Monet takes the observer to the edge of a tranquil sea. With the serene, calm waters the painting depicts, one might be reminded of the completely still, early morning waters of a lake, where not one crest of a wave can be found.

The painting itself can be divided into two halves: the lower left half and the top right half, both depicting opposite ends of nature’s spectrum. Starting from the lower left corner, the painting makes its way to the middle, losing itself in hills and weeds along the way. Many different types of lines help accomplish this. Small and medium length straight lines give the impression of weeds and bushes while long, rolling, and curving lines give the impression of hills and drop-offs. Pigments of green, white, yellow, brown, black, and blue mix together to form a landscape that is bewildering and complex, yet beautiful at the same time. A rolling line starting near the top left corner and extending to the bottom right helps portray the effect of the end of the cliff, right before it drops down into the water. Also helping separate the two halves of the artwork is a brown cottage with a red tinted roof near the left edge of the painting and what appears to be the grey and black hue of a rocky cliff near the right edge of the painting. The cottage is the only geometric design in the painting with a square base, triangular roof, and two rectangular chimneys.

The top right half of the painting depicts the still waters of the sea that lie below the cliff. The water maintains a murky blue throughout, but as it gets closer to the cliff, it begins to accumulate a green undertone that represents the shallow waters at that point. Moving farther away from the cliff the water becomes bluer, making home to what appears to be three white ships. Looking at the top portion of the painting, the viewer can see the morning fog that rises above the waters. Circular strokes in a darker hue of gray add thickness to the already dense fog. Monet paints the water in a way so that it appears as if it goes on forever, not stopping at the edge of the fog. All in all, Monet takes the viewer to a place of peace and tranquility. With no civilization in sight, it is a place to escape from the real world and enter into a land where time seems to stand still.