By the mid-19th century, industrialization had reached Argenteuil and the mixture of small-town leisure and the oncoming of modernity was attractive to artists like Claude Monet.

Monet was lived in the beautiful little town from 1871-1878, as it was not far from his other home, Paris. During this period, Monet had a studio boat built - a space where he could paint while floating serenely. From his new floating studio , Monet was able to paint from a new vantage: on the water. As Monet was raised in a seaport city, boats and their rigging were not unfamiliar to him. Monet made his studio boat by messing around with a rowboat and adding a green cabin to it. To keep away the harsh French sun during those longer summer days, Monet added an awning.

The town of Argenteuil sits on the banks of the Seine river, and attracted sailors and boat enthusiasts before it did artists. Though you wouldn't know it from this painting,  it’s reported that the river in Argenteuil was filthy, even contaminated with dead animals. Ewwww. Seriously, though, if you’re looking at the river from Monet’s Le Bateau-autelier, you wouldn’t believe there were any furry critters floating in the water. Monet kept these animals out of his paintings. Argenteuil maintained the reputation of being a boating town, where boats would compete or sail recreationally, and Monet was determined to capture the atmosphere.

This little boat proved to come in handy for Monet. It all about leisure of sailing around in a picturesque town. Monet used his boat studio as a means of transport to several different spots on the Seine. The studio boat itself also became a significant subject for Monet, who painted it several times before its demise.