Sailboats on the Seine

Moored dinghies with bare rust-red masts sit on the Seine at Petit-Gennevilliers: a navy hull with a cream deck at the centre, a cream and blue one to the right, a blue punt against the green bank, and orange-roofed houses under a poplar behind. Monet painted it in 1874, the water broken into short dashes of blue, cream and lilac with the masts wavering in the reflection.

Sky and water are made from the same loose brushmarks and read almost alike, so the masts and hull lines are the structure worth finding first. Finished size 63.5 x 50.8cm.