The series "Morning on the Seine" was begun in 1896 but not completed until 1897 because of inclement weather. First, Monet patiently scouted out particular views along the river; then he painted the pictures from a boat that he had converted into a floating studio. For an extended period, he arose before dawn and reached his boat before sunrise in order to paint the changing effects of light as the sun came up. He then lined up the canvases on easels in his studio to complete them together. Eighteen of the pictures were shown at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1898. One was dated 1896, the others 1897.

Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): Claude Monet 97

[Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, until 1906; sold March 31, 1906 to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1906; stock no. 8133; sold October 30, 1906 to Durand-Ruel, New York]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1906–7; stock no. 3139; sold January 10, 1907 to Emmons]; Arthur B. Emmons, New York and Newport (1907–d. 1922); his widow, Julia W. Emmons, New York and Newport (1922–d. 1956)

Paris. Galerie Georges Petit. "Exposition Claude Monet," June 1898, nos. 40–57 (possibly one of the pictures listed under the heading "Série des matins sur la Seine").

New York. Wildenstein. "From Paris to the Sea Down the River Seine," January 28–February 27, 1943, no. 46 (lent by Mrs. Arthur B. Emmons).

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Claude Monet: Seasons and Moments," March 9–May 15, 1960, no. 73.

Los Angeles County Museum. "Claude Monet: Seasons and Moments," June 14–August 7, 1960, no. 73.

Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "The Artist and the Tree," September 18–November 17, 1963, no catalogue.

New York. Richard L. Feigen & Co.. "Claude Monet," October 15–November 15, 1969, no. 50.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Impressionism: A Centenary Exhibition," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, not in catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Monet's Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism," April 19–July 9, 1978, no. 28.

Saint Louis Art Museum. "Monet's Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism," August 1–October 8, 1978, no. 28.

Toronto. Art Gallery of Ontario. "Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions," June 12–September 12, 2004, no. 61.

Paris. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. "Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions," October 12, 2004–January 17, 2005, no. 61.

London. Tate Britain. "Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions," February 10–May 15, 2005, no. 61.

Clement Greenberg. Art News Annual 26 (November 1956), ill. p. 142.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX–XX Centuries." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3, New York, 1967, p. 141, ill.

Douglas Cooper. "The Monets in the Metropolitan Museum." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), pp. 299–300, 302, 304–5, fig. 27.

Carl R. Baldwin The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Impressionist Epoch. [New York], 1974, p. 19.

Daniel Wildenstein. "1887–1898: Peintures." Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné. 3, Paris, 1979, pp. 79, 84 n. 1440, pp. 212–13, no. 1482, ill.

Grace Seiberling Yale University. Monet's Series. New York, 1981, pp. 189, 225, mentions it in the context of the series of "Mornings on the Seine".

Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 146–47, 252–53, ill. (color).

Gottfried Boehm in Claude Monet: Nymphéas. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Basel, 1986, pp. 120–21, ill.

John House. Monet: Nature into Art. New Haven, 1986, pp. 129, 171, 173, 182, 200, 204, colorpl. 211, dates it 1896–97.

Gottfried Boehm. Paul Cézanne: Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Frankfurt, 1988, pp. 46, 48, fig. 10.

Daniel Wildenstein. "Supplément aux peintures; dessins, pastels, index." Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné. 5, Lausanne, 1991, p. 51, no. 1482.

Karin Sagner-Düchting. Monet at Giverny. Munich, 1994, pp. 46, 116, ill. p. 44 (color).

Daniel Wildenstein. "Catalogue raisonné–Werkverzeichnis: Nos. 969–1595." Monet. 3, 2nd ed. Cologne, 1996, p. 620, no. 1482, ill. (color).

Horst Keller. Monets Jahre in Giverny, Ein Garten wird Malerei. Cologne, 2001, p. 72, ill. p. 74 (color).

Luce Abélès. "Mallarmé, Whistler and Monet." Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 2004, pp. 167, 174, no. 61, ill. p. 176 (color).

John House. "Tinted steam: Turner and Impressionism." Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 2004, p. 47.

Katharine Lochnan. "Turner, Whistler, Monet: An artistic dialogue." Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 2004, p. 33.

Joseph Baillio and Cora Michael in Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff. Exh. cat., Wildenstein & Co., Inc. New York, 2007, p. 169.

In the summers of 1896 and 1897, Monet worked on a series of views very similar to this, eighteen of which he exhibited in 1898.