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Claude Monet, 1875, Train in the Snow
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The Train in the Snow (Le train dans la neige) is a landscape painting by the French Impressionist artist Claude Monet. The work depicts a train surrounded by snow at the Argenteuil station, France. Art historians see the work as a significant example of Monet's efforts to integrate nature and industry in his work. Many historians believe that Monet, out of all of the notable nineteenth century artists, made the most paintings of trains in his lifetime. Art historians typically emphasise the dividing lines of the piece created by the fence, trees and tracks as well as the dark smoke produced by the locomotive. However, these historians derive different meanings from the painting, though they all reference themes of industry and motion. Scholars also note the important connections between Monet's painting and contemporary works of literature, particularly those of the writer Emile Zola.