Claude Monet

Stéphane Mallarmé, Paris (acquired from the artist in 1890)

Geneviève Mallarmé-Bonnoit (acquired from the above)

Dr. Bonnoit (acquired from the above by circa 1920)

Mme Bonnoit, Valvins (acquired from the above)

André Morice, Paris (by circa 1950)

Sale: Drouot-Montaigne, Paris, June 19, 1989, lot 64

Acquired by the present owner in 1989

Gustave Geffroy, Claude Monet, sa vie, son temps, son oeuvre, Paris, 1922, discussed pp. 210, 323 and 330

Denis Rouart, Correspondance de Berthe Morisot, Paris, 1950, discussed p. 154

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. II, Lausanne and Paris, 1979, no. 912, illustrated p. 135 (pièces justificatives, nos. 90 and 92, p. 293)

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, vie et oeuvre, vol. V, Lausanne and Paris, 1991, listed p. 42

Steven Z. Levine, Monet, Narcissus and Self-Reflection, The Modernist Myth of the Self, Chicago, 1994, fig. 66, illustrated p. 127

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, Catalogue raisonné, vol. II, Cologne, 1996, no. 912, illustrated p. 341

In early September of 1884, Monet visited Jeufosse, located just south-east from Port Villez, where he painted several views of the landscape along the Seine. Between the banks of the river and the hills of Jeufosse runs the Le Havre-Paris railway, which links the Channel port to the center of France. This was a popular route for many travelers throughout northern France, including Monet, who frequently took the train from his home at Giverny to various locations throughout the country to paint. By the end of the 19th century, the expansion and development of the national railroad had transformed rural France, and the "iron horse" became a common feature of the landscape as it passed through the country. Regions that had been difficult to reach from the metropolis at the beginning of the century were now accessible within a matter of hours by train, making it possible for city dwellers to escape to more remote areas of the country during their leisure time. For the present composition Monet depicts one of these ubiquitous locomotives, with smoke trailing behind it, traveling south-west along the riverbank towards Bonnières and Paris. The steeple of the town church can be seen in the distance, and its reflection, as well as that of the smoke, appear on the surface of the water.

The first owner of this picture was the poet Stéphane Mallarmé, who often compared the subtle bend of the river depicted in this composition to the smile of Leonardo's Mona Lisa. Mallarmé was a devoted admirer of Monet, and his favorable assessments of Monet's work solidified his friendship with the artist. In his glowing review of the artist's work at the second Impressionist group show in 1876, Mallarmé is effusive with his praise when discussing Monet's landscapes, particularly his treatment of water - an element that, coincidentally, dominates the present work: "Claude Monet loves water, and it is his especial gift to portray its mobility and transparency, be it sea or river, grey and monotonous, or coloured by the sky. I have never seen a boat posed more lightly on the water than in his picture, or a veil more mobile and light than his moving atmosphere" (quoted in Ruth Berson, The New Painting, Impressionism 1874-1886, Documentation, Volume I: Reviews, San Francisco, 1996, p. 95).