The birth of Impressionism calculated to the nearest minute

The birth of Impressionism can now be dated to a precise time: 7.35am on November 13, 1872.

New research has identified when Claude Monet painted Impression, Soleil Levant (impression, rising sun), which gave the artistic movement its name. Evidence for the new dating will be presented next month in an exhibition at the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, which owns the picture (September 18 January 18 2015).

Until now, it has been unclear whether Impression, Soleil Levant was painted in 1872 or 1873. Monet dated it next to his signature as "72", but the Wildenstein catalogue raisonné re-dated it to 1873, arguing that the artist worked in Le Havre that spring. The hazy nature of the Impressionist scene has made it difficult to determine the topography of the harbour view, but this was essential to establish the date.

Donald Olson, a professor of astrophysics at Texas State University who has contributed a catalogue essay, began by identifying Monet's hotel-and even the room where he stayed.

He has pinpointed a particular third-floor bedroom with a balcony in the Hotel d'Amirauté au Havre, at 45 Grand Quai. Monet would have looked across the outer harbour, facing towards the Quai Courbe, to the southeast.

Some specialists have believed the painting depicts a sunset, because the picture was entitled, "Impression: Soleil Couchant" (setting sun) in an 1878 sale. However, Olson demonstrates that because of the sun's position towards the east it must have been rising.

- Art Newspaper