View of the Prins Hendrikkade and the Kromme Waal in Amsterdam

Monet came back to the Netherlands in 1874, and the Amsterdam he found was waiting on a canal. Crews had been digging since 1865, straight through the dunes, to give the port a short route to the sea, and that canal opened in 1876. For the moment the harbour front belonged to inland shipping, and that is where he put himself, out on the open water of the IJ in front of the city, looking at the far end of the Prins Hendrikkade, the quay then called the Kamperhoofd, with the Kromme Waal running off to the left. He painted fast. The water is built from short dabs that carry the sky, the quay and the boats a second time, and the houses along the back are left as a single grey line.