Claude Monet

Charles Deudon, Paris (acquired from the artist in 1878)

Charles Guasco, Paris (sold: Galerie Georges Petit, June 11, 1900, lot 53)

Jules Strauss, Paris (acquired at the above sale)

Josef Stransky, New York

Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (1921)

H.J. Laroche, Paris (1921)

Jane Renouardt, Paris

Wildenstein & Co., London

Charlesworth, Great Britain (by 1935)

Sir Stephenson Kent, London (by 1945)

Lady Kent, London (sold: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, March 18, 1959, lot 9)

Private Collection (sold: Sotheby's, London, June 25, 1985, lot 12)

Wildenstein & Co. (acquired at the above sale)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Camille Mauclair, Claude Monet, London, 1927, illustrated pl. 22

Maurice Malingue, Claude Monet, Paris, 1943, illustrated p. 87

Leopold Reidemeister, Auf den Spuren der Maler der Ile-de-France, Berlin, 1963, illustrated p. 121

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. I, Lausanne and Paris, 1974, illustrated p. 321

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, vie et oeuvre, vol. V, Lausanne and Paris, 1991, listed p. 32

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. II, Cologne, 1996, no. 475, illustrated p. 190

In 1878 Monet left Paris to pursue a more idyllic life in the country. He travelled north and discovered the medieval village of Vétheuil, just outside the town of Mantes in the region of Ile-de-France. Monet took an instant liking to Vétheuil, and he was soon joined by his family, as well as the family of his friend and patron Ernest Hoschedé. The families installed themselves in a rented house on the road to Mantes, with a large garden that led down to the river. The landscape, the barges moving up the Seine, and the picturesque town of Lavacourt, situated on the opposite shore, inspired Monet to paint many compositions of the area. He even established a painting studio on a small boat - his bateau atelier - which enabled him to travel up and down the Seine and gave him a limitless choice of perspectives.

La Seine à Lavacourt focuses on the verdant shores of Lavacourt and the full, rich light that is characteristic of the region. According to David Joel, "On sunny days, as the sun rises higher and the land gets warmer the morning mists are dispelled, and the breeze created is funnelled up by the white cliffs forming a circular wind system, often rising to ten thousand feet. This system can bring all sorts of summer cloud formations unique to this area of Normandy, which may or may not vanish by sunset. Thus the skies are constantly changing and fine sunsets and effects are created. They differ by the hour" (David Joel, Monet at Vétheuil 1878-1883, Woodbridge, England, 2002, p. 50).

Soon after arriving in Vétheuil, Monet's family, and the large family of Ernest Hoschedé, relocated to a more spacious residence above town on the estate of Les Tourelles. Monet remained there for about five years, enduring financial hardship in the winter of 1878-1879 and the death of his wife Camille in the fall of 1879. Despite these adversities, the artist continued to create stunning depictions of Lavacourt and its environs. As noted by Paul Hayes Tucker, "The place appeared to agree with him. Over the time he was there, he produced nearly three hundred paintings - one every four days. This was a remarkable output, surpassing the number of pictures he completed during his seven years at Argenteuil by a large margin. Most of these new canvases, however, were vastly different from those earlier works, as Monet now sought out spaces in and around this rural village that revealed its quiet secrets - the backwaters of the Seine,...the orchards that dotted the surrounding hills, and the well-trodden dirt paths of the little town of Lavancourt [sic] just across the river" (Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet, Life and Art, New Haven and London, 1995, p. 101).