Subjectivity in Claude Monet’s “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur”

Thomas Ferro

It’s a snowy scene in late winter. A road, barren, paves its way through a dense forest. Two travelers, weary, trudge through the spring ice and slush –– their faded clothes blend in with the blurry blue and gray surroundings. A triangular mound, nestled in the background of the work, symbolizes the end of the road –– the destination: the Farm Saint-Siméon. Yet the travelers still have a long way to go. Long, pointed trees reach up to the sky on the right of the scene; rounded, old trees form bulbous shadows on the left. The only signs of human contact are the wooden rails that line the sides of the road, the plank of wood in the right snowbank, and the farm in the distance. Monet’s painting, “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” (fig. 1)  is a work on the brink. It represents not only rapidly changing artistic styles, norms, and traditions, but also transcendentalist, romantic, and metaphoric ideologies. Vague and applicable to almost any viewer’s life, Monet’s painting is a commentary on human existence, on humankind’s relationship with nature, and a metaphor for a life’s journey. In the following  investigation, I will situate Monet within the evolution of art and society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, establish his relationship with rurality and urbanity, and study his peculiar use of a nonspecific, raw technique and vague figural depictions, such as those present in the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur.” 

As a world-renowned Impressionist, Monet has been extensively studied, reported on, and contextualized in scholarship. One of a series, “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” is one of Monet’s studies of winter light in Normandy that occurred in the mid nineteenth century. Despite Monet’s reputation as one of the most well-known artists in the Western canon, this particular series has not been extensively covered in scholarship. It has, on the other hand, evoked some peculiar, and quite beautiful, poetic responses. John Hollander, for example, a notable American poet and literary figure, wrote a poem that brings Monet’s painting to life — “Effet de Neige.” Hollander writes, 

“Shadows keep piling up as surfaces / Are muffled into silence that refuses / To pick up even the quickening of wind / In dense bare branches, or the ubiquitous / Snaps of ice cracking in the hidden air. / Silence. Your way of being. Your way of seeing / Still has to be intoned, as in a lonely / Place of absorbing snow, itself to be / Seen.”¹

In another poem, “Effets de Neige: Impressionists in Winter,” Linda Pastan writes, “Soaked as they were in the yellow light of summer, it took the Impressionists years to venture out into winter with their brushes and paints. Monet was first, in boots and gloves perhaps; Manet and Sisley followed.”² It is quite intriguing that Monet’s “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” tends to evoke such poetic and delicately appreciated reactions, and it is surprising that there is not such an academically prevalent response to both the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” and the series of which it is part in scholarship. Perhaps, because the work is a simple study of light on snow, it may have evaded its due credit as a canonically Western work of art in the eyes of art historians. Yet, its relationship with poetry speaks to the work’s persistently personal viewing experience and the illustrious thoughts it can evoke. It is the work’s personal yet universal applicability that has empowered such artistic reactions in mediums like poetry. 

One could argue that the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur,” if it is just briefly glanced at by viewers –– as is so common in museums today –– is appreciated simply because it is a Monet, implying that the scholarship is therefore rightfully centered around the artist’s more famous works. This argument has merit and some truth to it: a museum audience will often assign value to the object before them based solely on whether or not they recognize the name of the artist. However, this method, of course, does not accurately assess the quality of the work, nor is it a guideline that museum goers should follow. “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur,” with its bravura, raw nature, and realism, is a painting that has the true ability to speak to its viewers upon deeper looking. With proper appreciation for the painting itself, viewers are susceptible to the deep and contemplative emotional experience that the work evokes. Monet’s painting succeeds in what many try to achieve but ultimately fall short of: transporting the viewers into another world.

While Monet spearheaded the Impressionist movement, winter scenes by Impressionist artists have been historically overlooked.³ In his essay, “Effet de Neige: ‘Claude Monet and a few others…,’” Charles Moffet writes that, “Most collectors, curators, and dealers have always preferred paintings with blue skies, sun, gardens, and fields of flowers, but the snowscapes of the Impressionists––especially those by Monet, Sisley, and Pissarro––are among their greatest accomplishments,” continuing by saying that such scenes evoke “a sense of peace, stillness, and quiet beauty that is unique in the history of modern art.”⁴ With the emergence of the Impressionists, viewers were encouraged to reconsider the subject hierarchy that, in many regards, dictated Western Europe’s classification of art, shifting the focus from a historical  subject to emotion and light.⁵ “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” is, of course, a landscape, suggesting that Monet, in painting such a scene, discarded the norms that ruled his predecessors –– even in his most seemingly elementary study, he was challenging the notion of what art should be at the time. Moffet continues his paper by discussing another one of Monet’s more famous winter works: “The Magpie” or, “La Pie,” which is notable due to the nondescript nature of the bird; it is, like the humans of the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur,” vague and purposefully lacking in detail and vivacity. So why, then, did Monet, when choosing to incorporate human — and even animal –– subjects within his work, follow the strict style of obscure and shadow-esque imagery? To answer this question, it is important to note the changing social and political culture of contemporary France. Notably, the Industrial Revolution occurred in France in the first half of the nineteenth century, causing major developments in both the industrial economy and culture of France.⁶ It was against this backdrop of French modernization that Monet decided to venture out into the Norman country to produce “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” and other works. It is possible that Monet sought refuge and natural beauty in the snow-covered countryside of Normandy, providing a physical escape from the growing pains of industrialization both for himself and for his paintings’ viewers.

So why, then, did Monet, when choosing to incorporate human — and even animal — subjects within his work, follow the strict style of obscure and shadow-esque imagery?

Comparing Monet’s “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” to another of his paintings, “The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train” (fig. 2), painted ten years after “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon” in 1877, it is clear that Monet was fascinated by both urban and rural scenes as lenses for the industrializing period in which he worked — “The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train” depicts a train entering an industrial, large, and busy station. There is an essence of innovation, production, and progression, amplified by the light blues and purples of the work and the apparent movement provided by the incoming train, people, and fumes –– a stark contrast to the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur.” However, even with the swirling smoke and industrial machines present in “The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train,” Monet’s bravura technique and vagueness are maintained; the human figures depicted retain their lack of specificity. Like in the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur,” Monet’s emphasis is placed on the natural phenomena, not the people. The orbs of smoke exuded from the incoming train are more defined than anything else in the painting. Why would Monet, when portraying human progress and development, continue to decenter the faces of the human depictions? He is, like in his earlier paintings, transporting the viewers into the world of his painting through the seeming emptiness of each human depicted; yet there is something different about this transportation. 

In the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur,” Monet conveys an overwhelming sense of open-endedness and, most importantly, vagueness —  not just in the figural depictions but also in the setting. In “The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train,” on the other hand, viewers can almost hear the loud whistle and screeching of the incoming trains, the rancid smell of the burning coal from the engine, and the constant, yet prominent, chatter of the people in the background. This painting depicts a recognizable place: the Gare Saint-Lazare station in Paris. Ultimately, while Monet is once again using his artistic capabilities to transport the viewers, he now uses this technique of an undefined nature to achieve a very different goal– to evoke an emotional and specifically artist-determined response. “The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train,” unlike the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur,” brings viewers to a specific place, rather than letting the viewers choose their destination instead. 

“Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” is a work that thus focuses on a surprising subject: a road itself. The two human figures, which are located in the left middle ground of the work, do not take a dominating position within the work’s composition. The painting features raw brushstrokes that aid in conveying the overarching emotion and atmosphere so important to the artist’s work. Furthermore, Monet is able to convey a sense of rawness and vitality — qualities that bring the work to life. This technique is quite important for this painting, in particular, as its subject is a snowy road within a hushed atmosphere. Even the natural beauty of the scene is, in some ways, lacking, as the scene depicts winter –– a time when natural life is in a state of nonexistence. Monet’s deliberately exposed brushstrokes further imbue the work with a sense of motion amidst the landscape’s subdued stillness.

As mentioned earlier, this work is undistinguished in its composition — meaning that it does not have a recognizable or defining characteristic. Regarding the painting itself, many people who encounter the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur” in the Harvard Art Museums will not be able to recognize the scene’s particular location without the aid of the title. In this respect, it is possible that viewers of the painting at the time of its creation in the nineteenth century likewise would not have connected the work to a specific recognizable site, but rather would have associated its generic features with a recognizable feeling personal to their experience of such scenes. The snowy road and the undistinguished building in the background do not mark a universally recognizable place, like Paris or Marseilles. Yet, this lack of specificity gives the painting an important ability: allowing spectators to appreciate a remarkably individual viewing experience.  It is the painting’s individual and personal qualities stemming from its lack of specificity that allow it to provide not just one specific image, but infinitely many, as it relies on the viewers to provide their interpretation, understanding, and feeling of the work. Ultimately, it is Monet’s nondescript figural depictions in the work that allow spectators to live in the scene vicariously and experience this natural and peaceful world. 

Additionally, the road, in its prominence, serves as a metaphor for life’s journey. Travelers follow the path though neither they nor the viewer know not what they may encounter along the way, nor will they understand the full extent of the journey until they arrive at the destination. Monet portrays how life is predetermined, and all one has to do is march onward, forward, always. “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon,” in all its simplicity, is an incredibly evocative, beautiful, and emotional painting. The nondescript nature of the figural depictions and scene itself allows viewers to be transported into another world: not a world of the artist’s choosing, but a world that belongs to the individual. In this sense, the painting differs from others, like “The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train,” as it serves as an open template that rids the viewers of any comfort of certainty, definition, and tradition — its subtleties only make Monet’s message stronger. In the “Road Toward the Farm Saint-Siméon, Honfleur,” blue sky peeks out behind the large gray, overcast clouds. Blades of grass emerge from under the snow. There is — among the undeniable heaviness of winter –– a sense of hope and of light at the end of the tunnel. For the travelers, that light could be the Farm Saint-Siméon. For us, only time will tell.

1. John Hollander, “Effet de Neige: Claude Monet La Route de la Ferme St-Siméon, Honfleur, about 1867,” Grand Street, Spring, 4, no. 3 (Spring 1985): 35, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25006726. ↩︎
2. Linda Pastan, “Effets de Neige: Impressionists in Winter.” The Georgia Review 53, no. 2 (Summer 1999): 347, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41401709. ↩︎
3. Sylvia Patin, “Argenteuil, The High Noon of Impressionism,” in Monet: The Ultimate Impressionist, trans. Anthony Roberts (New York: Discoveries: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1993), 38. ↩︎
4. Charles Moffet, “Effet de Neige: ‘Claude Monet and a few others…’,” in Impressionists in Winter (London: Philip Wilson Publishers Limited, 1998), 14. ↩︎
5. Ibid., 15. ↩︎
6. Arthur Louis Dunham, “Conclusion,” in The industrial revolution in France, 1815-1848, (New York: Exposition Press, 1955), 424. ↩︎