- 49
Claude Monet
Description
- Claude Monet
- Le Chemin d'Epinay, effet de neige
- Signed Claude Monet (lower right)
- Oil on canvas
- 24 by 39 1/8 in.
- 61 by 99.5 cm
Provenance
Mme Henri Goiran (née Lucie Chouanard), Paris (acquired circa 1917 and until at least 1945)
Private Collection (sold: Sotheby’s, London, June 28, 1967, lot 42)
Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York (acquired at the above sale)
Mr. & Mrs. David Bakalar, Boston (acquired from the above in 1967 and sold: Sotheby’s, New York, November 14, 1984, lot 4)
Acquired at the above sale
Exhibited
New York, Wildenstein & Co., Monet, 1945, no. 30 (titled La Seine à Argenteuil)
New York, Richard L. Feigen & Co., Claude Monet, 1969, no. 9, illustrated in the catalogue
Literature
(possibly) Emile Blémont, "Les Impressionnistes," Le Rappel, Paris, 1876, p. 3
René Chavange, "Claude Monet," in Le Figaro artistique, Paris, December 16, 1926, illustrated p. 149
Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. I, Paris & Lausanne, 1974, no. 388, illustrated p. 281
Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. V, Paris & Lausanne, 1991, p. 30
Paul Hayes Tucker, Monet at Argenteuil, New Haven and London, 1982, fig. 125, illustrated
Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. II, Cologne, 1996, no. 388, illustrated p. 160
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.
Catalogue Note
Monet painted his first snow scene in Honfleur in 1865, and returned to this subject again in early 1867 in a series of winter landscapes inspired by a heavy snowfall that winter. In 1868, Léon Billot gave an account of Monet painting out-of-doors in the snow, a vivid proof of the artist's dedication to capturing the effects of light on the frozen landscape: "It was during winter, after several snowy days, when communications had almost been interrupted. The desire to see the countryside beneath its white shroud had led us across the fields. It was cold enough to split rocks. We glimpsed a little heater, then an easel, then a gentleman swathed in three overcoats, with gloved hands, his face half-frozen. It was M. Monet studying an aspect of the snow" (L. Billot, 'Exposition des Beaux-Arts', in Journal du Havre, October 9, 1868).
Monet executed a number of snow-covered landscapes throughout his career, but those that he completed in the mid-1870s are considered among his most technically sophisticated. Writing about Monet's snow scenes, Eliza E. Rathbone observed: "The Impressionists, and above all Monet, determined to record the complete spectrum: deep snow in brilliant sunshine, creating the bluest of blue shadows; snow under a low, gray winter sky that shrouds nature in a single tonality; landscapes so deep in snow that all details are obscured, evoking a silent world; even snow melting along a country road at sunset; or, perhaps most striking, a sky filled with snow falling. Of all the Impressionists, Monet painted the largest number of snowscapes and the greatest variety of site, time of day, quality of light, and quality of snow itself. He was not only interested in a relatively traditional conception of a snowy landscape, but he found beauty in unexpected phenomena of winter. He brought to his snowscapes his desire to experiment both with new technique and with formal invention" (E. E. Rathbone, 'Monet, Japonisme, and Effets de Neige', in ibid., p. 25).
The present work is closely related to a composition currently in the collection of the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, New York (Wildenstein no. 389). This picture's first owner of record was Lucie Chouanard, a member of a prominent family of industrialists in Paris. Her father, Emile, was best known as the head of the tool manufacturing company, "Aux Forges de Vulcain," which went on to manufacture airplane parts during World War II. The Chouanard family were also noted art collectors, and Lucie may have inherited this work from her father. In 1937 Lucie married Henri Goiran, the French-born diplomat who was appointed to the French consulate in New York City in 1907. After the Second World War, Goiran's work would later focus on teaching and writing, and he was awarded the Legion of Honor. The couple's only son, Roger Goiran, would eventually become the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency in Tehran in the 1950s.