Monet | Autograph letter to his wife, about Degas and Frits Thaulow, Pourville-sur-Mer, 24 March 1896

Monet, Claude

Autograph letter to his wife Alice signed ("...pour toi ma femme cherie, ton vieux Claude Monet"), 24 March 1896

telling her that, only just arrived at Pourville, near Dieppe, he is already at work on three canvases, and that the weather is superb; he reports his arrival, his lack of sleep, getting up at six o'clock, and reflects on the previous day's dinner in Paris before his departure, which was only marred by the absence of Degas, which has puzzled him; he also tells her that he travelled to Pourville with the Norwegian painter Frits Thaulow, 

1 page, 8vo, framed and glazed, Pourville-sur-Mer (Dieppe), 24 March 1896

Claude Monet painted the cliffs at Pourville in Normandy more than once, including a canvas in 1882 (now in Chicago) and another in 1896 (in a private collection). Frits Thaulow (1847-1906) lived in France from 1892 until his death, mainly outside Paris in places like Montreuil-sur-Mer, Dieppe and the surrounding villages, where he met Claude Monet in 1896.

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's, 7 December 2000, lot 149; Sotheby's, 28 May 1986, lot 206; Sotheby's 25 May 1976, lot 357.