CLAUDE MONET | Vue d'Argenteuil

Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the artist by 1891)
Durand-Ruel Family Collection (from 1928 until at least 1941)
Sam Salz, New York
Dr Fritz Nathan, Zurich (acquired by 1953)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Berlin, Paul Cassirer, Ausstellung VIII. Jahrgang, 1905, no. 16

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet. Biographie et catalogue raisonné, Paris & Lausanne, 1974, vol. I, no. 235, illustrated p. 215
Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet. Biographie et catalogue raisonné, Paris & Lausanne, 1991, vol. V, no. 235, listed p. 27
Daniel Wildenstein, Monet. Catalogue raisonné, Cologne, 1996, vol. II, no. 235, illustrated p. 103

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In December 1871, Monet moved to Argenteuil in the Parisian suburbs, where he would live for the next six years. Caillebotte, Manet, Renoir and Sisley all visited him regularly. It was during these meetings at Monet’s house that plans for the first Impressionist exhibition were made. Monet’s move to Argenteuil led to a period of intense productivity. In the six years he spent there, he created more paintings than he had done since starting his career. Monet painted Vue d’Argenteuil less than a year after he arrived in the town. In the 1870s, Argenteuil offered the ideal escape for Parisians in search of peace and quiet from an increasingly industrialised capital. Sheltered by the hills that stretch from St Denis to Pontoise, the Seine reaches its widest and deepest point at Argenteuil, making the town an ideal place for sailing and taking walks along the banks of the river. Argenteuil’s picturesque location is captivating for artists, especially the variety of ways the light reflects on the water, depending on the season and time of day. However, the town soon became extensively industrialised, with factories replacing the surrounding agricultural fields. The landscape gradually became entrenched in this modern way of life, which was fascinating for the Impressionist painters. In this panoramic view however, Monet abandons such attributes of modern living as sailing boats, floating washhouses and afternoon strollers, in order to immortalise the idyllic and bucolic landscape of days gone by. Painted in the early years of Impressionism, this composition beautifully depicts the serene and tranquil atmosphere of an afternoon along the banks of the Seine.