Monet, Claude.

Autograph letter, in French, signed ("Claude Monet"), 3 pages (8 1/8 x 5 1/8 in.; 206 x 131 mm), Giverny par Vernon. Eure, 25 October 1916, to Gustave Geffroy in Paris. Very good condition.

Very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Claude Monet, working on his Water Lilies for the Musée de l'Orangerie.

The painter expresses his regret for not being able to answer positively to an invitation from his friend Gustave Geffroy: "I am terribly sorry not to be able to leave my studio. (...) I have been interrupted in my work and I must catch up in lost time. You cannot imagine what enormous amount of work I have been immersed in (...)"

In 1914, upon the suggestion of his very close friend Georges Clemenceau (they worked together on the purchase of Manet's Olympiafor the Louvre), Monet started working on a series of Water Lilies paintings to sell to the French State. Howeverm, Monet had a medical emercy, having been diagnosed with a double cataract in 1912 that was making him blind. The 8 large panels would be donated to France in the first half of 1920 for the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.

The author, journalist, and art critic Gustave Geffroy met Claude Monet during a trip to Belle-Ile in 1886. He admired his work, wrote articles about it and they became friends. As a friend of Clemenceau too (he collaborated at his newspaper La Justice and Clemenceau, as Prime Minister, appointed him as curator of the Manufacture des Gobelins), he knew about the order for the Water Lilies.