Claude Monet

Du Fresnay, Paris (acquired from the artist in October 1877)

Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the above on June 13, 1894)

Private Collection, Paris (by descent from the above)

Private Collection, France (Sale: Christie's, New York, November 3, 2004, lot 30)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Berlin, Paul Cassirer, Ausstellung VIII. Jahrgang, 1905, no. 22

London, Grafton Galleries, Pictures by Boudin, Manet, Pissarro, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Sisley, 1905, no. 128

Weimar, Grossherzogliches Museum, Claude Monet, 1905, no. 5

London, Grosvenor Gallery, Art français, 1914, no. 42

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel et Cie., Tableaux par Claude Monet, 1928, no. 19

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paysages par C. Monet, C. Pissarro, Renoir et Sisley, 1933, no. 5

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Maîtres des 18e et 19e siècles, 1938, no. 45

Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Hondred Jaar Fransche Kunst, 1938, no. 179

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Claude Monet, 1959, no. 18, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Claude Monet, 1970, no. 17, illustrated in the catalogue

Tokyo, Seibu Gallery; Kyoto, Municipal Museum & Fukuoka, Cultural Center, Claude Monet, 1973, no. 15, illustrated in the catalogue

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, biographie et catalogue raisonné, Lausanne & Paris, 1974, vol. I, no. 452, illustrated p. 311

Paul Hayes Tucker, Monet at Argenteuil, New Haven, 1982, fig. 151, illustrated p. 187

Robert Gordon & Andrew Forge, Monet, New York, 1983, illustrated p. 134

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, catalogue raisonné, Cologne, 1996, vol. II, no. 452, illustrated p. 183

Excellent condition. Original canvas. The oil pigments are stable and the colors are lively. Under UV light, there is one small spot of retouching in the upper right corner; small spots in the top left edge to minimize prior frame abrasion. Other flourescent spots in the green pigments of the foreground, the river and river bank appear to be original to the work and not retouching.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Painted in 1877, the present work depicts the Argenteuil promenade looking downstream from the bank of the river Seine.  Monet moved to Argenteuil, a suburb near Paris, in 1871, and lived there for the following six years. Inspired by the picturesque scenery of the Seine that coexisted harmoniously with such emblems of modern life as smokestacks, boaters and well-dressed strollers, he painted a number of views of the region.  In the 1870s, Argenteuil was booming with signs of modernization and industrialization, and was one of the fastest growing regions in the vicinity of Paris.  With the advance of the steamboat and railway, the Argenteuil path along the Seine became a popular promenade, rather than the commercial route as it had been in the past.

 

In choosing to paint in the area of Argenteuil, Monet often focused on sailboats on the river, or the view of the promenade extending deep into the background, sometimes punctuated with figures of fashionably dressed strollers.  For the present composition, however, the artist chose a different angle: here he depicted the hot baths on the left, with their lavish flower garden occupying the lower half of the canvas.  Daniel Wildenstein described this view: "Several times, he painted a motif that he had first attempted in 1872, the edge of the promenade, looking downstream, with the manor house behind it.  In at least two paintings [including the present work], he depicted the bathing establishment moored to the bank; the factory chimneys treated very discreetly, and sometimes omitted altogether.  In the foreground, flowers recently planted by the owner of the bathing establishment allowed the warm colours of Monet's garden theme to be allied with that of the Seine" (D. Wildenstein, op. cit., 1996, vol. I, p. 131).

 

During this time, Monet often experimented with a high horizon line, and the present composition is dominated by wild vegetation in the foreground, with only about half of the canvas opening up to the view of the river and the sky above it.  The far bank of this view was populated by a saw mill, a tannery, an iron factory, as well as by residential houses around them.  Monet, however, chose to crop some of these signs of industrialized world out of his painting, and carefully selected his viewpoint in order to edit out the common commercial traffic on the Seine and the factories with their smokestacks, and to maximize the natural elements.  In doing so, Monet wished to capture the secluded, tranquil atmosphere that had characterised the area, glorifying its idyllic, unspoilt past rather than its bustling, modernized present.

 

In 1877 Monet painted only four canvases of Argenteuil (Wildenstein nos. 450-453), all of them showing the town and river from a similar view-point.  Paul Hayes Tucker wrote about these works: "The four include all the appealing aspects of the site: flower covered banks, tall trees, green grass, refreshing water, and open sky.  People stroll along the path while others guide their boats on the river.  The petit château, colored a rich purple, sits on a carpet of green in the background.  Across the water is the charming Ile Marante, and nearer the foreground is the floating laundry house. [...]  Individually and as a group, therefore, these pictures, like the earlier Promenade along the Seine, 1872, seem to reaffirm the idyllic qualities of Argenteuil" (P. H. Tucker, op. cit., p. 181).

 

Prior to 1873, France, along with the rest of western Europe, enjoyed a period of prosperity due to advances in industry, technology, wages and standards of living.  Those who could afford it moved to once-rural areas that were now quickly and easily accessible from Paris by train.  With their increased earnings, a leisure class of boaters and Sunday travellers emerged in these suburbs.  Factories replaced inexpensive farmland and soon began to appear just outside the city.  Monet and his fellow painters delighted in depicting the activities of the Parisian middle classes, and the present work is a beautiful homage to the area that the artist would leave soon after its execution.