This heady and dramatic sunset is one of a series of four pictures of the motif painted in 1882. At this time Monet was visiting a number of areas away from Paris in order to vary his subject-matter and capture extreme natural effects. Varengeville is a small village in Normandy, about 6 kilometres west of Dieppe. In his treatment of the hillside, Monet contrasts complementary colours - oranges and reds against blues and greens - while the boldly asymmetrical composition echoes Japanese landscape prints. The church dates from the 13th and 15th centuries.

Each of the four paintings represent the same scene at different times of the day. At least two other versions are known: The Church at Varengeville and the Gorge of Les Moutiers, 1882, Columbus Museum of Art, inv. no. 1981.015 (W. 728); The Church at Varengeville, Morning Effect, 1882, private collection (promised gift to the San Diego Museum of Art).

Inscriptions / Translations:  Signed I.r.: Claude Monet 82

Notes:  Exhibited: 'Exposition des Oeuvres de M. Claude Monet', Paris, France, 1883; 'Claude Monet - A. Rodin', Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, France, 1889, no. 61; 'Monet, Pissarro, Renoir et Sisley', Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, France, 1899, no. 19; 'Exposition Centennale de l'Art Français', Grand Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris, France, 1900, no. 487; 'Pictures by Boudin, Manet, Pissarro, etc.,', Grafton Galleries, London, UK, 1905, no. 147; 'Claude Monet. Exposition organisée au profit des victimes de la catastrophe du Japon', Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, France, 1924, no. 28; 'Claude Monet', Durand-Ruel, New York, USA, 1935, no. 4; 'Claude Monet', Gimpel Gallery, London, UK, 1950, no. 4; 'Claude Monet', Edinburgh Festival, Scotland, UK, July 1957 - September 1957; 'Claude Monet', Tate, London, UK, September 1957 - November 1957, no. 69; 'Post-Impressionism, Cross Currents in European Painting', Royal Academy, London, UK, 17 November 1979 - 30 March 1980, no. 136; 'Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Art 1880-1906', National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA, 24 May 1980 - 01 September 1980; 'Monet', Museo Espanola de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain, April 1986 - June 1986, no. 36; 'French Impressionism: Treasures from the Midlands', Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK, 07 June 1991 - 18 August 1991, pp. 32-3; 'Rendez-Vous A Dieppe: The Town and it’s Artists from Turner to Braque', The Royal Pavilion Art Gallery and Museum, Brighton, UK, 01 May 1992 - 30 June 1992, no. 49; 'Claude Monet', Österreichische Galerie, Vienna, Austria, 13 March 1996 -16 June 1996, no. 32; 'Art Treasures of England', Royal Academy, London, UK, 22 January 1998-13 April 1998, no. 354; 'Monet: Painting Places', Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso, Italy, 29 September 2001 - 17 February 2002; 'Monet: the Seine and the Sea', Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK, 02 August 2003 - 26 October 2003, no. 57; 'Boudin, Monet and the Sea Painters of Normandy', Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, UK, 29 May 2004 - 30 August 2004; 'Claude Monet, 1840-1926', Galeries nationales, Grand Palais, Paris, France, 2010, no. 68; 'Monet', Grand Palais, Paris, France, 20 September - 24 January 2011; 'Birth of a Collection: Masterpieces from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts', National Gallery, London, UK, 22 May 2013 - 01 September 2013: L'Atelier en plein air: Monety, Renior, Boudin, Gauguin in Normandy', Musee Jacquemart-Andre Paris, 18 March - 25 July 2016; 'Monet and Architecture', National Gallery London, 9 April - 29 July 2018

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