From Vétheuil to Giverny
1881 Alice in Vétheuil
2014 SOLD for $ 34M including premium
Claude Monet developed in Argenteuil his new style of painting that became the most typical impressionism : drawing no longer exists, replaced by spots and textures while fully respecting perspective and proportions.
He leaves Argenteuil in 1878 due to financial difficulties and settles in a village further down the Seine, at Vétheuil, with his beloved wife Camille and a couple of friends, Ernest and Alice Hoschedé. The untimely death of Camille the following year rushes Alice into the arms of the artist.
In 1881, Monet paints Alice in the garden of Vétheuil. He remembers the time when the white dress of Camille was expressing purity. Alice is quietly sewing in a rich surrounding of foliage. The sunlight filtering through a large tree provides a continuity in texture between the green and the woman in light blue.
This oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm is estimated $ 25M, for sale bySotheby's in New York on November 4, lot 29.
That year marks the peak and the end of the first impressionist period of Monet. He is watched by scandal when he can no longer hide his affair with Alice, a married woman. In the following year, his long lonesome trip in Normandy makes him wish to express the variations of light in the landscape at various times of the day.
Claude married Alice in 1892, after the death of Hoschedé.
He leaves Argenteuil in 1878 due to financial difficulties and settles in a village further down the Seine, at Vétheuil, with his beloved wife Camille and a couple of friends, Ernest and Alice Hoschedé. The untimely death of Camille the following year rushes Alice into the arms of the artist.
In 1881, Monet paints Alice in the garden of Vétheuil. He remembers the time when the white dress of Camille was expressing purity. Alice is quietly sewing in a rich surrounding of foliage. The sunlight filtering through a large tree provides a continuity in texture between the green and the woman in light blue.
This oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm is estimated $ 25M, for sale bySotheby's in New York on November 4, lot 29.
That year marks the peak and the end of the first impressionist period of Monet. He is watched by scandal when he can no longer hide his affair with Alice, a married woman. In the following year, his long lonesome trip in Normandy makes him wish to express the variations of light in the landscape at various times of the day.
Claude married Alice in 1892, after the death of Hoschedé.
1885 A Summer in the Fields
2015 SOLD for $ 16.4M including premium
Impressionism considered by Monet is not only a new technique suitable for painting landscapes. It is also a life style far from social conventions and preferring the pleasures of the countryside to the noise of the city.
Monet moved further away from Paris. He settled in 1883 in Giverny with Alice and the eight children of this recomposed family. The difficult period that followed the death of Camille is finally over.
Village life is a delight for Monet. During the cold 1885 winter, his observation of frost leads to a direct interpretation of the changing colors of nature.
Then comes the summer. Claude and Alice love to finish the day in the meadow separated from their garden by a brook lined with poplars. The harvest is performed and the haystacks are awaiting to enter into the barn.
On May 14 in New York, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm dated 1885, lot 15C estimated $ 12M.
The composition is balanced, as always. A shadow is approaching the foot of the sun drenched stacks. In this soft shadow, halfway between the position of the artist and the poplars, the woman and three young children transform this peaceful landscape into a scene of intimate happiness.
Monet moved further away from Paris. He settled in 1883 in Giverny with Alice and the eight children of this recomposed family. The difficult period that followed the death of Camille is finally over.
Village life is a delight for Monet. During the cold 1885 winter, his observation of frost leads to a direct interpretation of the changing colors of nature.
Then comes the summer. Claude and Alice love to finish the day in the meadow separated from their garden by a brook lined with poplars. The harvest is performed and the haystacks are awaiting to enter into the barn.
On May 14 in New York, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm dated 1885, lot 15C estimated $ 12M.
The composition is balanced, as always. A shadow is approaching the foot of the sun drenched stacks. In this soft shadow, halfway between the position of the artist and the poplars, the woman and three young children transform this peaceful landscape into a scene of intimate happiness.
Why #Monet's studies of Giverny are profound reflections of changing times http://t.co/4ndYY4IS40 pic.twitter.com/NOMQjetkNX
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 15, 2015
1887 The Expression of the French Countryside
2014 SOLD for $ 20.3M including premium
Monet traveled extensively all along the 1880s in search of the most spectacular scenery of the French countryside. Better than anyone, he observed the light. At the end of this creative phase, he enters into communion with the agrarian landscape, beginning to escape the need to locate the view.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1887 entitled Sous les peupliers (under the poplars), lot 28 estimated $ 12M.
The control of his art is total. His impressionist manner is reinforced by a thick paint and the colors, as always, are beautiful and expressive. A similar view is held at the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart. They are identified as the rural landscape in Limetz, not so far from Giverny.
This is in some way the culmination of the landscape art in France. Monet believes that his maturity is total. In the next year, he will be disappointed when the light and the wind of the Mediterranea will be too violent for his technique of outdoor painting. A new phase begins for him with more systematic studies of tiny variations of light in structured series: Haystacks in 1890 soon followed by the Poplars and by the Rouen Cathedrals.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1887 entitled Sous les peupliers (under the poplars), lot 28 estimated $ 12M.
The control of his art is total. His impressionist manner is reinforced by a thick paint and the colors, as always, are beautiful and expressive. A similar view is held at the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart. They are identified as the rural landscape in Limetz, not so far from Giverny.
This is in some way the culmination of the landscape art in France. Monet believes that his maturity is total. In the next year, he will be disappointed when the light and the wind of the Mediterranea will be too violent for his technique of outdoor painting. A new phase begins for him with more systematic studies of tiny variations of light in structured series: Haystacks in 1890 soon followed by the Poplars and by the Rouen Cathedrals.
1887 Sunset through the Poplar Trees
2015 SOLD for £ 10.8M including premium
In the 1880s, Claude Monet is the landscape painter of France. Like Cézanne and Sisley, he however specializes in views close to his residence. His distant excursions that become rarer stimulate him to better observe his new paradise, the countryside around Giverny.
1887 marks the culmination of this slow evolution, including improvements in the texture of his paint. An oil on canvas entitled Sous les peupliers was sold for $ 20.3M including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014.
On February 3 in London, Sotheby's sells Peupliers à Giverny, lot 21 estimated £ 9M. This oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm belonged since 1951 to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The composition of this picture is powerful. Its theme is the sunset of the early autumn in high treetops where the light turns into fire whirls. Through the trees, the clear sky and the fields offer sumptuous colors. The horizon was not useful for this exceptional landscape : it is hidden by the leaves.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1887 marks the culmination of this slow evolution, including improvements in the texture of his paint. An oil on canvas entitled Sous les peupliers was sold for $ 20.3M including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014.
On February 3 in London, Sotheby's sells Peupliers à Giverny, lot 21 estimated £ 9M. This oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm belonged since 1951 to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The composition of this picture is powerful. Its theme is the sunset of the early autumn in high treetops where the light turns into fire whirls. Through the trees, the clear sky and the fields offer sumptuous colors. The horizon was not useful for this exceptional landscape : it is hidden by the leaves.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1890 Between Harvest and Snow
2019 SOLD for $ 110M including premium
The series of Meules painted by Monet after the 1890 harvest was not premeditated. The haystacks are installed in the fields as temporary semaphores that break the monotonous surface devoid of its plants.
Monet loves this theme that is typical of country life without the need to add humans or birds. He begins with five landscapes in which two haystacks are distant from each other.
According to the sequence established by Wildenstein, the next sub-series is composed of two oil paintings on canvas 73 x 93 cm executed during the autumn of 1890. The alignment of two haystacks leads to the tall trees on the horizon, against the light in the last rays of sunset. For the first time the rest of the image is minimized. The predominance of the expression of colors over theme and form opens the way to modern art.
The second of these pictures, W1273, goes even further by managing to avoid the shadows of the two stacks. All that remains is the light that plays with the contours of stacks and trees and reveals the shimmering colors of the field. It was dated 1891 by the artist, certainly by reference to the year of the first public exhibition of the series, in the gallery of Durand-Ruel.
W1273 will be sold by Sotheby's in New York on May 14, lot 8. The March 15 press release announces an estimate in excess of $ 55M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The deep nature of a landscape can no longer be expressed by a single snapshot. In this series which ends in January 1891 and totals 25 paintings, Monet has captured 25 moments of light of a wide variety : morning, evening, full sun, snow, mist. In the last pictures the color also comes to sublimate the perspective with the reduction of the theme to a single haystack. Also taken at sunset, W1290 was sold for $ 81M including premium by Christie's on November 16, 2016.
Monet loves this theme that is typical of country life without the need to add humans or birds. He begins with five landscapes in which two haystacks are distant from each other.
According to the sequence established by Wildenstein, the next sub-series is composed of two oil paintings on canvas 73 x 93 cm executed during the autumn of 1890. The alignment of two haystacks leads to the tall trees on the horizon, against the light in the last rays of sunset. For the first time the rest of the image is minimized. The predominance of the expression of colors over theme and form opens the way to modern art.
The second of these pictures, W1273, goes even further by managing to avoid the shadows of the two stacks. All that remains is the light that plays with the contours of stacks and trees and reveals the shimmering colors of the field. It was dated 1891 by the artist, certainly by reference to the year of the first public exhibition of the series, in the gallery of Durand-Ruel.
W1273 will be sold by Sotheby's in New York on May 14, lot 8. The March 15 press release announces an estimate in excess of $ 55M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The deep nature of a landscape can no longer be expressed by a single snapshot. In this series which ends in January 1891 and totals 25 paintings, Monet has captured 25 moments of light of a wide variety : morning, evening, full sun, snow, mist. In the last pictures the color also comes to sublimate the perspective with the reduction of the theme to a single haystack. Also taken at sunset, W1290 was sold for $ 81M including premium by Christie's on November 16, 2016.
An enduring symbol of Impressionism from Claude Monet's iconic Haystacks series will lead an important private collection of 8 Impressionist works on offer in #SothebysImpMod Evening Sale on 14 May in #NYC. Learn more: https://t.co/B4xVl8QWFA pic.twitter.com/SMDorfOowE
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 15, 2019
1891 A Stack in Winter
2016 SOLD for $ 81M including premium
Claude Monet was not a theorist. He progressed by releasing his emotion. The Impression soleil levant painted in 1872 fades within the fog the real features of the view. This painting is a burst of intuition and is described in the history of art as the cornerstone of Impressionnisme. However it took nearly two decades for the artist to jump to a still more decisive step, with the Meules.
He had been very active throughout that period. His paintings of the Gare St Lazare in 1877 constituted a series that displayed the variations in color depending on the intensity of sunlight and on the thickness of smoke from the trains. His solitary travel in Normandy in 1882 for comforting after the death of Camille is very important : Monet demonstrates to himself that lighting is better than topography for expressing a mood.
When comes the end of summer 1890 Monet is ready for a new experience. The vegetation will disappear with winter. As for every year the grain stacks will remain alone in the middle of the fields until the wheat threshing of the spring. They will be the perfect support for Monet to perform his observations of colors through all weather conditions and at all moments of time. This series totaled 25 paintings.
Three of them have been specifically grouped as a ultimate achievement of the Meules in the catalogue raisonné prepared by Daniel Wildenstein. Only one stack is visible in front of a retracted landscape. It is truncated either from top or from one side. The color emotion is not challenged by that figurative feature reduced to nothing more than a bulky triangle. In 1896, in front of one of these paintings, Kandinsky was dazzled.
Another Meule from that group of three, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1891, reference Wildenstein 1290, was sold for $ 12M including premium by Sotheby's on 11 May 1999. It is now for sale by Christie's in New York on November 16, lot 9 B. The targeted price was disclosed at around $ 45M by the specialized press.
See the video shared by Christie's. The image below is shared by Wikimedia:
He had been very active throughout that period. His paintings of the Gare St Lazare in 1877 constituted a series that displayed the variations in color depending on the intensity of sunlight and on the thickness of smoke from the trains. His solitary travel in Normandy in 1882 for comforting after the death of Camille is very important : Monet demonstrates to himself that lighting is better than topography for expressing a mood.
When comes the end of summer 1890 Monet is ready for a new experience. The vegetation will disappear with winter. As for every year the grain stacks will remain alone in the middle of the fields until the wheat threshing of the spring. They will be the perfect support for Monet to perform his observations of colors through all weather conditions and at all moments of time. This series totaled 25 paintings.
Three of them have been specifically grouped as a ultimate achievement of the Meules in the catalogue raisonné prepared by Daniel Wildenstein. Only one stack is visible in front of a retracted landscape. It is truncated either from top or from one side. The color emotion is not challenged by that figurative feature reduced to nothing more than a bulky triangle. In 1896, in front of one of these paintings, Kandinsky was dazzled.
Another Meule from that group of three, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1891, reference Wildenstein 1290, was sold for $ 12M including premium by Sotheby's on 11 May 1999. It is now for sale by Christie's in New York on November 16, lot 9 B. The targeted price was disclosed at around $ 45M by the specialized press.
See the video shared by Christie's. The image below is shared by Wikimedia:
1891 The Humble Hours of Claude Monet
2011 SOLD 22.5 M$ including premium
A row of poplars along a waterway inspired Claude Monet in 1891 with one of the best ideas of impressionist art. The sunny or cloudy weather, the time in the day, varied the feeling offered by this humble theme.
The artist created a first series of thirteen outdoor paintings, viewed from the same point. He was working on all these canvas in parallel, looking for the whole variety of light through the trees. The study of the reflections in the water anticipates the Water lilies of Giverny.
The oil on canvas, 117 x 73 cm, for sale by Christie's in New York on May 4, has an excellent quality, always appreciated by the market: it is in its original condition, having never been varnished.
Christie's had sold it $ 7M including premium on 8 November 2000. It is now estimated $ 20M.
Back to Monet. He made afterwards a second series of eleven views of the same subject, showing the variety of seasons, and began in 1892 his systematic study of light effects on the cathedral of Rouen, which amazed all art lovers.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold $ 22.5 million including premium, this major painting has not exceeded its lower estimate. It is the bad surprise of the sale.
With such a result, how should we interpret the peremptory statements of some observers who say that there would almost remain no more top Impressionist works on the market ...
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
The artist created a first series of thirteen outdoor paintings, viewed from the same point. He was working on all these canvas in parallel, looking for the whole variety of light through the trees. The study of the reflections in the water anticipates the Water lilies of Giverny.
The oil on canvas, 117 x 73 cm, for sale by Christie's in New York on May 4, has an excellent quality, always appreciated by the market: it is in its original condition, having never been varnished.
Christie's had sold it $ 7M including premium on 8 November 2000. It is now estimated $ 20M.
Back to Monet. He made afterwards a second series of eleven views of the same subject, showing the variety of seasons, and began in 1892 his systematic study of light effects on the cathedral of Rouen, which amazed all art lovers.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold $ 22.5 million including premium, this major painting has not exceeded its lower estimate. It is the bad surprise of the sale.
With such a result, how should we interpret the peremptory statements of some observers who say that there would almost remain no more top Impressionist works on the market ...
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
1893 The Slow Drift of the Ice Blocks
2017 SOLD for $ 23.4M including premium
After the views of the Meules throughout the winter 1890-1891, the Peupliers painted in 1891 mark a turning point in the creativity of Claude Monet now attentive to express the tiny variations of light in a single composition.
In January 1893 Monet is working outdoors at Bennecourt, not far away from Giverny, and watches the ice blocks drifting on the Seine river. He prepares his series carefully until the thaw before finishing the paintings in his studio according to his usual practice. Very similar at first sight, these artworks display significant variations of the atmosphere.
The view numbered 1337 by Wildenstein is titled Glaçons, Effet blanc. The artist shares the chilly mist of that winter which he likes so much. This oil on canvas 65 x 100 cm was sold for $ 16M including premium by Sotheby's on November 6, 2013 over a lower estimate of $ 9M.
On November 14 in New York, Sotheby's sells the Wildenstein 1336, lot 25 estimated $ 18M. In the same size as the 1337, it is colored by an attenuated sunlight. The thaw is less advanced and the ice blocks closer to the observer define the water plane above the reflections of the tall trees.
The art of Claude Monet is a continuous progress. 1336 anticipates the magics of the Nymphéas plane marking the surface of the pond that will occupy him from 1905 to 1919.
Please watch the video in which Sotheby's also shows another landscape coming at the same auction sale.
In January 1893 Monet is working outdoors at Bennecourt, not far away from Giverny, and watches the ice blocks drifting on the Seine river. He prepares his series carefully until the thaw before finishing the paintings in his studio according to his usual practice. Very similar at first sight, these artworks display significant variations of the atmosphere.
The view numbered 1337 by Wildenstein is titled Glaçons, Effet blanc. The artist shares the chilly mist of that winter which he likes so much. This oil on canvas 65 x 100 cm was sold for $ 16M including premium by Sotheby's on November 6, 2013 over a lower estimate of $ 9M.
On November 14 in New York, Sotheby's sells the Wildenstein 1336, lot 25 estimated $ 18M. In the same size as the 1337, it is colored by an attenuated sunlight. The thaw is less advanced and the ice blocks closer to the observer define the water plane above the reflections of the tall trees.
The art of Claude Monet is a continuous progress. 1336 anticipates the magics of the Nymphéas plane marking the surface of the pond that will occupy him from 1905 to 1919.
Please watch the video in which Sotheby's also shows another landscape coming at the same auction sale.
Ahead of the public exhibition opening on 3 Nov in #NYC, browse #SothebysImpMod Art Evening Sale here: https://t.co/dZ70DI1MlS pic.twitter.com/bz2i0N7obb
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 29, 2017
1893 The Changing Color of White
2013 SOLD 16 M$ including premium
White is a challenge for painters, but Claude Monet enjoys an absolute vision of colors and the skill to find the right palette of paints to express the most subtle shades. Of course, snow, frost and ice are white without being pure.
The weather changes and daylight follows, offering a range of discrete colors that constitute a symphony of winter. Monet realizes outdoors a first oil painting. Then, in the comfort of his studio, he duplicates it in several copies identical in line and texture but whose colors change according to weather and time.
On February 8, 2012 , Sotheby's sold for £ 8.2 million including premium an entry in Giverny on the snow under a gray sky, 65 x 85 cm, on the model viewed in January 1885.
Painted in the same year, the same view with warmer colors of the sunset, 65 x 81 cm, is estimated $ 5M, for sale by Christie's in New York on November 5. Two identical views are known, one during the snowfall, the other under a bright sun.
The story is repeated for the view of ice flowing on the Seine, 65 x 100 cm, painted in 1893. It is estimated $ 9M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 6. Two other examples are known, including an effect of mist kept the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
Start at Christie's. The road to Giverny in winter was sold for $ 5.2 million including premium. The sunset does not offer the best balance of colors in the series.
2
Great result at Sotheby's for the ice scenery : $ 16M including premium, rewarding all the subtlety of Monet's art.
I invite you to play the videos shared by Christie's (link) and Sotheby's (below) :
The weather changes and daylight follows, offering a range of discrete colors that constitute a symphony of winter. Monet realizes outdoors a first oil painting. Then, in the comfort of his studio, he duplicates it in several copies identical in line and texture but whose colors change according to weather and time.
On February 8, 2012 , Sotheby's sold for £ 8.2 million including premium an entry in Giverny on the snow under a gray sky, 65 x 85 cm, on the model viewed in January 1885.
Painted in the same year, the same view with warmer colors of the sunset, 65 x 81 cm, is estimated $ 5M, for sale by Christie's in New York on November 5. Two identical views are known, one during the snowfall, the other under a bright sun.
The story is repeated for the view of ice flowing on the Seine, 65 x 100 cm, painted in 1893. It is estimated $ 9M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 6. Two other examples are known, including an effect of mist kept the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
Start at Christie's. The road to Giverny in winter was sold for $ 5.2 million including premium. The sunset does not offer the best balance of colors in the series.
2
Great result at Sotheby's for the ice scenery : $ 16M including premium, rewarding all the subtlety of Monet's art.
I invite you to play the videos shared by Christie's (link) and Sotheby's (below) :
1896 Repetition of the Dawn
2018 SOLD for $ 20.5M including premium
Claude Monet is obsessed with the most subtle variations in colors. The nearby river of his Giverny property offers the total tranquility needed for his unprecedented experiences. With the series of Peupliers in 1891, he installs several easels in parallel and passes from one canvas to another according to the modifications of the light.
Les Peupliers, like Les Meules in 1890-1891 and Les Cathédrales de Rouen completed in 1894, address all the hours of the day, offering too much contrasts between the paintings of the series. The success of these three sets is considerable with the public but the aesthetic result cannot fully satisfy the demanding artist.
During the summer of 1896 Monet gets up every day at 3:30am, operates up to 14 canvases in parallel with the help of an assistant always at the same place at the confluence of the Epte and the Seine rivers, paints the mists when they dissipate at sunrise and leaves for the rest of the day. The title of the series is Matinée sur la Seine. Some paintings are panoramic but others are square, which is bold for a landscape.
He has no luck. Summer and the beginning of autumn are very rainy. He finishes only four paintings at the end of this season. One of them, 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 5.7M including premium by Sotheby's in New York on November 9, 2000. It returns at the same venue on May 14, lot 15 estimated $ 18M. The poor weather brings soft contrasts without saturating the shadows.
Monet returned to the same river bank in 1897 without changing anything in his creative process from the previous year, bringing the total of the Matinées to 22 paintings. One of them on which the sun rays are just reaching the trees in the background, also 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 23.4M including premium by Christie's on November 13, 2017.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Les Peupliers, like Les Meules in 1890-1891 and Les Cathédrales de Rouen completed in 1894, address all the hours of the day, offering too much contrasts between the paintings of the series. The success of these three sets is considerable with the public but the aesthetic result cannot fully satisfy the demanding artist.
During the summer of 1896 Monet gets up every day at 3:30am, operates up to 14 canvases in parallel with the help of an assistant always at the same place at the confluence of the Epte and the Seine rivers, paints the mists when they dissipate at sunrise and leaves for the rest of the day. The title of the series is Matinée sur la Seine. Some paintings are panoramic but others are square, which is bold for a landscape.
He has no luck. Summer and the beginning of autumn are very rainy. He finishes only four paintings at the end of this season. One of them, 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 5.7M including premium by Sotheby's in New York on November 9, 2000. It returns at the same venue on May 14, lot 15 estimated $ 18M. The poor weather brings soft contrasts without saturating the shadows.
Monet returned to the same river bank in 1897 without changing anything in his creative process from the previous year, bringing the total of the Matinées to 22 paintings. One of them on which the sun rays are just reaching the trees in the background, also 89 x 92 cm, was sold for $ 23.4M including premium by Christie's on November 13, 2017.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
A highlight of #SothebysImpMod Evening Sale in #NYC, Claude Monet's Matinée sur la Seine is now on view in London. Stop by 34-35 New Bond Street through 5pm GMT tomorrow to visit this dreamlike scene and head over to our website to learn more: https://t.co/5MHWXEdwzu pic.twitter.com/cSZJwSAYcf
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) April 9, 2018
