Claude Monet

Michel Monet, Giverny

Sale: Christie's, London, 26th March 1984, lot 11

Private Collection, Zurich (purchased at the above sale)

Acquired by the present owner in 1993

Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Exposition du Centenaire Monet - Rodin, 1940-41, no. 35

Basel, Kunsthalle, Impressionisten. Monet, Pissarro, Sisley - Vorläufer und Zeitgenossen, 1949, no. 229

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, biographie et catalogue raisonné, Lausanne & Paris, 1979, vol. III, no. 1159, illustrated p. 101

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, Catalogue Raisonné, Cologne, 1996, vol. III, no. 1159, illustrated in colour p. 439

The canvas is unlined. Apart from some scattered spots and small areas of retouching throughout, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in good condition. Colours: In comparison to the printed catalogue illustration, the colours are overall considerably fresher and more varied in the original. The pink tones in the sky and in the middle are more pronounced 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."

Throughout his life, Monet was an indefatigable traveler, always searching for new environments that would nourish his inspiration. The present work belongs to a magnificent group of paintings the artist executed during his stay in Antibes from January until May 1888, recording the effects of changing seasons on this picturesque town. In January of that year, he had set off from Paris for the south, travelling aboard a luxury train and stopping briefly in several seaside towns along the Mediterranean coast. After visiting Cassis, the artist went to Cap d'Antibes where he would stay until early May. On the advice of his friend Guy de Maupassant, he took a room at the Château de la Pinède in Cap d'Antibes. In spite of the occasional strong seasonal wind that often compelled him to chain his easel to the ground, Monet managed to complete thirty-nine paintings over the course of three and a half months, including Le fort d’Antibes. 

 

Discussing another painting from this series which depicts Antibes from the same vantage point as the present work (D. Wildenstein, op. cit., no. 1158), Daniel Wildenstein wrote: ‘This painting shows the walled town of Antibes with the Bastion of St André, seen from the beach at Ponteil looking northwards. The view is dominated by the belltower of the cathedral and by the tower of the Château Grimaldi. In the foreground is the tip of the Ilet, and in the background the Alps which straddle the border between France and Italy’ (D. Wildenstein, op. cit., 1996, p. 438). After several weeks of working in this region, Monet expressed confidence in his work in a letter to Alice Hoschedé written in early February: ‘What I will bring back from here will be pure, gentle sweetness: some white, some pink, and some blue, and all this surrounded by the fairylike air’ (quoted in Joachim Pissarro, Monet and the Mediterranean, New York, 1997, p. 44). For the artist whose entire career was dedicated to exploring the quality of light and its effect on water, the rich, saturated colours of the Mediterranean provided an ideal environment in which to paint, and resulted in a remarkable series of works unique within Monet’s œuvre.