Claude Monet

(possibly) Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the artist in October 1881, as Herbes au bord de l'eau)
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired circa 1891)
Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York (1954)
Carlos Ferreyros, Lima (sale: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, 25th February 1970, lot 28)
Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York (acquired at the above sale)
John T. Dorrance, Jr. (acquired from the above on 2nd April 1970. Sale: Sotheby's, New York, The Collection of John T. Dorrance, Jr., 18th October 1989, lot 28)
Private Collection, Japan (acquired from the above by the present owner)

Bords de la Seine, un coin de berge is a magnificently rich, lush landscape depicting nature in the vicinity of Vétheuil, where Monet lived from the late summer of 1878 until December of 1881. As Daniel Wildenstein wrote, 'During the month of August [1878], Monet left Paris for a stay in the country [...] We know where he was staying from a letter to Murer of 1 September: 'I have set up shop on the banks of the Seine at Vétheuil in a ravishing spot.' It seems that he remembered the border of the Ile de France, known to him since his stay in Bennecourt, and had set his heart on this little town, which, with its 622 inhabitants, one doctor and a post-office, offered more facilities than a mere village' (Daniel Wildenstein, Monet or the Triumph of Impressionism, Cologne, vol. I, 1996, p. 137).

During the years that followed, Monet explored a variety of alternatives to his classic Impressionist style of the 1870s. Often using the small boat that he had modified for use as a floating studio, he explored the area on both banks of the Seine and the nearby islands where he found an abundance of interesting views and motifs. Almost immediately he began to vary from the style and subjects of earlier work. Always a courageous painter, by 1880-81 his brushwork had changed noticeably and his compositional formats were evolving. In the present work, paint handling and touch are all important in creating the dominant rhythms and patterns of the painting. Moreover, he adopts a vantage point and compositional format that allows him to fill more than two-thirds of the picture plane with the long, flickering brushstrokes that provide the image with much of its energy and interest.

The present work was executed during the summer of 1881 and its lively palette of pink, blue and green tones beautifully renders the atmosphere of a bright sunny day. With its very high horizon line, the composition is dominated by the lavishly painted trees and bushes that occupy two thirds of the canvas. In the distance is the plain of Lavacourt, a small village situated across a wide stretch of the Seine. During this time, Monet often experimented with the high horizon line, executing a number of paintings dominated by wild vegetation, with only a small portion of the canvas opening up to the landscape in the distance. The present work is closely related to a horizontal painting showing a similar view. Many of these works, such us Fleurs à Vétheuil , were painted from Monet's garden, and compositionally represent a drastic shift from the open expanses of water and sky of the landscapes painted from his bateau atelier.

Discussing Monet's paintings executed in this region, David Joel wrote: 'Lavacourt itself is a ribbon of old houses along the riverbank, which has a chemin de halage - a towpath for pulling barges, between the houses and the river [...] Lavacourt looks very attractive from Vétheuil and of course Vétheuil looks quite magnificent from Lavacourt. In Monet's day there was regular ferry service of rowing boats, but he also had his bateau atelier moored at the bottom of his garden, which gave the painter and the two families complete independence, in his case for painting, and for the families, for picnics on both the far shore and on the many islands' (D. Joel, op. cit., p. 57).