The Voorzaan 1871

Claude Monet painted this oil on canvas, ‘The Voorzaan’ during his brief stay in the Netherlands in 1871. At this time, Monet was living in exile from France because of the Franco-Prussian War. He would have been drawn to the Netherlands because it was a Republican country and therefore more tolerant of political exiles like himself. The painting depicts a flat landscape with windmills and boats on the water. These windmills were a key part of Dutch infrastructure in the 19th century, used to drain water and provide power. By including them, Monet may have been alluding to the progressive technology of the Netherlands, contrasting it with the more conservative social structure of France. The loose brushstrokes also suggest a kind of freedom and openness, reflecting the relative tolerance of Dutch society. To gain a fuller understanding of this painting, we can consult letters and other documents from the period to understand Monet’s relationship with the Netherlands. We can then begin to see how it reflects the artist’s own experience of exile.