Interpretive Resource

When Monet (Moh-NAY) decided to paint the trains at Saint-Lazare Station, he put on his best suit, fluffed out his ruffled cuffs brought along a gold-tipped cane, presented his card to the station-master and announced his intention to paint there. Impressed with his grand appearance, the station-master not only gave Monet permission to set up his easel on the platform and in the train yard hut also instructed the engineers to mit trains in and out of the station as often as Monet wished, clear the platforms, arid load the engines with coal to make them generate as much smoke as he desired.

Railway lines changed the French landscape in tire 19th century as national highways (dirt roads raised above tire ground for drainage, graded, arid lined with rows of trees) had trails—formed travel and communication in the 17th century, arid canals and river improvements had altered life in the 18th century. During these centuries, cartographers began to produce detailed maps of rural France. The first short rail line was built in France in 1828, and railways eventually included 15,000 miles of laid track, all radiating from Paris. In addition to Monet’s paintings of the Saint-Lazare Station (at least 12 were painted in 1877), many of his landscapes include images of trains.

Discussion Questions
What is the most important part of the painting: the train(s), the steam, the station, or the people? Why? What has Monet done to make the train look powerful, exciting, and fast? Why was a train yard a good topic to paint in Paris and not in a small country town? Where do you see travelers? railway workers? Is the train corning into or leaving the station? Does Monet show where the train might have come from? If you were going to get on Monet’s train, where would you be able to go (to anywhere in France, to another European country)? Where can we go on trains today?
Classroom Activities
As tourism became easier and cheaper, guides such as Les Chemins de fer illustres (The Illustrated Railway,) were produced for mass circulation. This guide cost about 25 centimes (less than 25 cents) and could be bought singly or in sets. Each guide consisted of a four- to eight-page booklet describing a single train line (e.g., Paris to Argentenril, Paris to Pointoise, Paris to Fontainebleau), and included a railway map marked with the major roads near the stations, the major sights seen from the line, beautiftul rural walks and historical sites, and restaurants and inns.
Have students create their own tourist guide for Parisians traveling across France on the trains, or for a "tourist" traveling from your school to Chicago, or for students traveling from home to school (by bus, car, or foot).
Musicians and authors were also interested in understanding the changes technology was bringing to city and country life. For older students, suggested works to study for comparative purposes include Jacques Offenbach’s operetta La Vie Parisienue, and Futile Zola’s novels, La Carée, L’Oeavre, and La Bate humaine (available in English translation under the French titles).