The Break-up of the Ice
1880 University of Michigan Museum of Art
About this artwork
This oil painting depicts a winter landscape, capturing a serene moment of ice floes drifting on a river with snow-covered banks and sparse trees in the background. The artist's signature "Claude Monet 80" is visible in the lower right corner.
Did you know?
Claude Monet painted a series of works depicting the "Break-up of the Ice" on the Seine river in Vétheuil during the unusually harsh winter of 1880. These paintings are a testament to his dedication to capturing the transient effects of light and atmosphere, even under challenging and frigid conditions. The dramatic thaw offered a unique opportunity for Monet to study the interplay of ice, water, and reflections, transforming a potentially bleak scene into a vivid study of nature's raw power.
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The Break-up of the Ice
Claude Monet, 1880
