f - CLAUDE MONET

PROVENANCE

Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the artist in March 1902 and until circa 1938)
Aline Barnsdall, Beverly Hills (acquired by 1938)
Aline Elizabeth Devine, United States (daughter of the above, by descent in 1948)
M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York
Robert Lazarus Senior, Columbus, Ohio (acquired from the above in 1951)
Thence by descent to the late owners

EXHIBITED

Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Pissarro - Monet, 1902
London, Grafton Galleries, A Selection of Pictures by Boudin, Manet, Pissarro, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Sisley, 1905, no. 135
Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Monet, 1914, no. 33
Los Angeles, County Museum of Art (on loan 1940-48)

LITERATURE

Georges Riat, 'Exposition de Sisley et de MM. Monet et Camille Pissarro', in La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité, Paris, 22nd February 1902, p. 59, discussed (as Après midi)
Arsène Alexandre, 'La vie artistique, II. Exposition Monet - Pissarro', in Le Figaro, Paris, 27th February 1902, p. 5
Charles Saunier, 'Gazette d’art. Monet, Pissarro…', in La Revue blanche, Paris, 1st March 1902, pp. 385-86
Edmond Pilon, 'Carnet des œuvres et des hommes. Plusieurs paysagistes', in La Plume, Paris, 15th March 1902, pp. 411-13
'Impressionism at the Grafton Galleries', in The Daily Telegraph, London, 14th January 1905
'Noted French Painters', in The Morning Post, London, 16th January 1905
'Grafton Galleries', in The Literary World, London, 20th January 1905
Gustave Geffroy, Claude Monet, sa vie, son temps, son œuvre, Paris, 1922, p. 223
Lionello Venturi, Archives de l’Impressionnisme, Paris and New York, 1939, vol. I, discussed pp. 378 & 384
Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, vie et œuvre, Paris and Lausanne,1985, vol. IV, p. 201, no. 1642, illustrated
Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, Catalogue raisonné, Cologne, 1996, vol. IV, p. 738, no. 1642, illustrated

CATALOGUE NOTE

Monet’s series paintings are among the most celebrated works of Impressionist art, and are often considered the finest compositions of the artist’s œuvre. Technically defined as variations of the same motif, usually vistas of a particular landscape, these pictures examine the subtle nuances of light and shadow, and reflect Monet’s fascination with exploring the ever-changing nature of a given setting. The artist began experimenting with this pictorial treatment as early as the 1870s and 1880s, rendering a series of canvases of the cliffs of Etretat, for example, and altering the time of day and perspective of each one. As a group, these works were remarkably varied in composition and treatment, clear evidence of Monet’s growing recognition that henceforth his works would generally be part of a series. Over the next decades, the artist became more committed to his series paintings, treating a variety of subjects, including the haystacks in the desolate fields of northern France, water lilies in the pond at his home at Giverny, Rouen Cathedral, the Grand Canal in Venice, the Houses of Parliament in London and, in 1901, the medieval village of Vétheuil.

The small village of Vétheuil is situated along the Seine between the city of Mantes and the town of Vernon, and was home to Monet and his family between 1878-80. This picturesque location had been the site of some of Monet’s most successful Impressionist landscapes of the late 1870s, and continued to fascinate him well into his later career. The natural beauty of the region was of great appeal to the artist, as was the impressive medieval architecture that could be seen from many points in the surrounding area. Of particular interest to him were the rigid shapes of buildings, most noticeably that of the imposing 10th century church of Notre Dame de Vétheuil (fig. 1), juxtaposed ag