Claude Monet

Jean-Baptiste Faure, Paris
Mme Laurent, France (sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 11th February 1903, lot 9)
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris and Galerie Rosenberg, Paris (purchased jointly at the above sale)
Galerie Rosenberg, Paris (acquired from the above in December 1903)
Jean Dollfus and the Zygomalas Collection, Paris (circa 1911)
Rosenberg, Paris (circa 1926)
Georges Clemenceau, France (acquired by 1927)
Georges Martin, Paris
Sam Salz, New York (circa 1951)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1952

Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Rétrospective d'art français, 1926, no. 73
Berlin, Galerie Thannhauser, Claude Monet, Gedächtnis-Ausstellung, 1928, no. 10, illustrated in the catalogue (as dating from 1868)
Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Tableaux de Claude Monet, 1928, no. 2 (as dating from 1868)
Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Claude Monet, 1931, no. 3, illustrated in the catalogue
London, Royal Academy of Arts, French Art, 1200-1900, 1932, no. 465
Honfleur, Musée Municipal, Honfleur et ses peintres, 1934, no. 83, illustrated in the catalogue
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, French Painting, 1100-1900, 1951, no. 109, illustrated in the catalogue (as dating from 1870)
Saint-Louis, City Art Museum & Minneapolis, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Claude Monet, 1957, no. 12, illustrated in the catalogue (as dating from 1870)
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Collects, 1968, no. 114
New York, Richard L. Feigen & Co., Claude Monet, 1969, no. 2, illustrated in the catalogue
Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, 1975, no. 21, illustrated in the catalogue
Cleveland, Museum of Art, Japonisme: Japanese Influence on French Art, 1854-1910, 1975, no. 181a, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, Acquavella Galleries, Claude Monet, 1976, no. 3, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Williamstown, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists: Painters of the Ecole Saint-Siméon, 1976-77, no. 91, illustrated in the catalogue
Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais & New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Les Origines de l'Impressionnisme 1859-1869, 1994, no. 139, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection; San Francisco, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco & Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, Impressionists in Winter: 'Effets de neige', 1998-99, no. 2, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
New York, Wildenstein, Claude Monet: A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, 2007, no. 3, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Gérard Jean-Aubry, Eugène Boudin, Paris, 1922, p. 64
Camille Mauclair, Claude Monet, London & Paris, 1927, pl. 11, illustrated p. 61
Gaston Poulain, Bazille et ses amis, Paris, 1932, p. 70
Georges Grappe, Monet, Paris, 1941, illustrated p. 53
Maurice Malingue, Claude Monet, Paris, 1943, illustrated p. 37
John Rewald, Le Post-Impressionnisme de Van Gogh à Gauguin, Paris, 1961, illustrated p. 179
Kermit Swiler Champa, Studies in Early Impressionism, New Haven, 1973, fig. 18, illustrated
Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet. Biographie et catalogue raisonné, Lausanne & Paris, 1974, vol. I, no. 81, illustrated p. 157
Gerald Needham, 19th Century Realist Art, New York, 1988, fig. 202, illustrated p. 189
Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, Catalogue Raisonné, Cologne, 1996, vol. II, no. 81, illustrated in colour p. 44
Monet & Bazille: A Collaboration (exhibition catalogue), The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1999, fig. 22, illustrated in colour p. 49
Vanessa Potts, Essential Monet, Bath, 2000, illustrated in colour pp. 38-39 & 98
Adrian Lewis, 'Monet's Route de la ferme St-Siméon Series (1864-67)', in Apollo, CLII, no. 462, London, August 2000, fig. 12, illustrated p. 46

The canvas is lined. The paint surface retains good texture. There are retouchings around the framing edges, and two lines of retouching in the lower right and upper left quadrants, which are visible under ultra-violet light. Apart from some stable craquelure, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall stronger and brighter in the original.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A magnificent example of Monet's early landscapes, this winter scene depicts the snow-covered road between Trouville and Honfleur and, on the left, the Saint-Siméon farm. Monet executed his first views of this area (fig. 1) in 1864-65 during his stay there with his friend, the painter Frédéric Bazille. In early 1867 a heavy snowfall inspired him to paint another four snow scenes of the region, including the present work, another example now at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris (fig. 2), and one in the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts (fig. 3). After this series of paintings Monet would return to this subject throughout his career, fascinated by snow and by the possibilities it offered him as a painter, and delighted by the unique quality of winter light.

 

Eliza E. Rathbone wrote about the present work: 'Among Monet's earliest landscapes with snow, Road by Saint-Simeon Farm in Winter is one of several paintings that Monet made after a substantial snowfall had blanketed the region of Honfleur. It was probably painted in January of 1867 when Monet was known to have been working on effets de neige. All the snowscapes that he painted at this time were done on the stretch of road that passes by the Saint-Siméon Farm, the main buildings of which are visible in this painting to the left of the road. Here the artist's view is from slightly farther away from the farm than it had been in his painting of two years earlier, A Cart on the Snowy Road at Honfleur [fig. 1]' (E. Rathbone in Impressionists in Winter (exhibition catalogue), op. cit., p. 82).

 

The following year, 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 snow: '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, 9^th October 1868, quoted in ibid., p. 82).