Claude Monet (1840-1926) is one of the creators of Impressionism. He was born in Paris, the son of a merchant who later moved to Le Harve where Monet fist met Boudin. In 1862 he entered the studio of Gleyre where he met Bazille, Renoir and Sisley. Later he met Courbet, Cezanne and Whistler. In 1870 to escape the French-Prussian war he came to London where he painted some views. Returning to Paris he painted Impression: Sunrise which was exhibited in the First Impressionism Exhibition.

Among his submissions for the Third Impressionism Exhibition, held in April 1877, Monet included at least seven canvasses painted inside or near Gare St Lazare and for Monet the series calls up the cries of the railroad workers, the screams of whistles, the clatter of arrivals and departures, the trembling of the terrain under great wheels, and the drama of merging sun, soot, smoke and steam. In Gare Saint Lazare (1877), we see the dusty blue shadow, penetrated by the suns rays from above and in the iridescent background is the Pont de lEurope.