Painting the Same Thing Forever

Monet's series paintings — haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, water lilies — represented a radical artistic experiment. By painting the same subject dozens of times under different light conditions, he proved that the real subject of painting was not the object but the light falling on it.

The Rouen Cathedral series contains over thirty paintings of the same facade at different times of day and in different weather. Morning light turns the stone pink and gold. Midday sun bleaches it white. Fog dissolves it into blue-gray mist. The cathedral becomes a screen on which nature projects an infinite variety of chromatic experiences.