The Gare Saint-Lazare, an archetypal symbol of modernity, dominated the painter's output in 1877. At the beginning of that year Monet asked permission to paint inside the station. Because of the restrictions imposed by the need to keep traffic flowing, Monet did not have the luxury of completing his paintings on site. So first of all he executed study drawings for the paintings, which he then finished in his studio. Here he depicts the side of the station used for suburban lines, concentrating exclusively on the station and its engines. The human presence finds itself reduced to mere silhouettes. But more than anything, this sunny vision of the station's interior allowed him to play with the smoke curls which progressively dissolve the contours of the buildings in the background.