Now living in Argenteuil, he observes the life on and around the Seine with its sails, bridges and embankments. After a few years, which are the key period of the definition of the Impressionniste style, Monet becomes a landscape artist looking for a communion with earth and light. Humans still appear in the scenery, but their role is reduced to identify the scale.
The artist walks along the river and places his easel on the banks. A view of Argenteuil painted in 1875, 60 x 80 cm, with a beautiful contrast of light and shadow under a dappled sky was sold for £ 8.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on June 23, 2014.
Monet used to say that he was a Parisian but in his youth the influence of Eugène Boudin had attracted him to the countryside. He considered the snow as an atmosphere and not as a disturbance and it became one of his favorite themes.
On May 5 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 61 x 100 cm painted in 1875 showing the melting snow on the banks at Epinay, upstream of Argenteuil. The light is filtered through a cloudy sky. The common landscape has provided the opportunity for a masterpiece. This painting is estimated $ 6M, lot 49.
SOLD for $ 6.4M including premium
Second time's the charm as an earlier #ClaudeMonet lot returns to the block and sells for a $6.4 mil final @Sothebys pic.twitter.com/mTXqJQZ8Fy
— Art Observed (@ArtObserved) May 6, 2015