Talks & Conversations

Finding Awe: Claude Monet’s Rouen Cathedral

Part of Finding Awe
We look up at the exterior of a church that soars the height of this vertical painting. The church is painted with visible dabs and strokes of sky blue, cream white, golden tan, and a few touches of pale, shell pink to create a blurred look, as if seeing a reflection in the rippling surface of a puddle. The church façade is angled to our left, away from us. The main door and its surround takes up the center of the composition, where a rectangular door is set within nested, pointed arches that lead up to a narrow, tall, triangular gable. The point of that gable overlaps the round rose window, which is the same width as the portal surround below. Spires flank the central section and rise steeply off the top edge of the painting. The sky above is painted as a field of pale lapis blue. A few dabs of darker blue and green suggest people, tiny in scale, standing near the lower left corner. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “Claude Monet ‘94.”
Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight, 1894, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.179

Pause to take in Claude Monet’s Rouen Cathedral, West Façade and Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight. Monet’s interest in the nuances of light and color and in painting the same subject again and again provide insights into the value of everyday awe.

During this 90-minute pause from your daily route, we’ll look slowly and mindfully at these two paintings by Claude Monet. You’ll be invited to look closely, wonder, and share your insights with the group.  Together, we’ll learn “awe practices” that you can bring to your everyday life.  

The workshop exploring Monet’s depictions of the Rouen Cathedral will be offered on March 6 at 2:15 p.m. and on March 7 at 10:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. We encourage you to register for one workshop on this topic and to join us for future topics as well.

Register on Thursday, January 1, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. When the workshop is full, the registration button will stop working. Due to last-minute cancellations, check back on the morning of the workshop for available tickets. Ages 18 and up. Questions? Email us at [email protected]. 

“Finding Awe” is grounded in the National Gallery’s mission to welcome all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity. It offers new “awe practices” drawn from the research of Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley, director of The Greater Good Science Center, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (2023). Research shows that experiences of awe help support mental and physical wellbeing and open us up to greater creativity and deeper empathy. 

Awe at the National Gallery of Art

Find ways to nurture an awe mindset—both at the museum and at home.

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