Claude Monet

Monet had first explored the motif of ice on the Seine in Bougival in the winter of 1867–68. In Vétheuil in 1879–80, he took up the theme once again and developed it in a number of closely related variations. A final exploration occurred in early 1893 in Giverny, where he made thirteen paintings. By this time, Monet had already developed his approach of working in series, which he had introduced with the twenty-five paintings of grainstacks in 1890–91. Here the artist’s concern was no longer to produce a series of works with similar themes, but to paint variations of a single motif methodically attuned to one another. Like his other series paintings from the 1890s, Monet’s depictions of ice floes were based on plein air studies made on location, in which he varied not only the composition but also the time of day and thus the effects of color, shadow, and light. Ten variations focus on the village of Bennecourt across from Giverny, while three others show Port-Villez—views of the river that Monet had explored since the early 1880s.

In art historical tradition, the motif of ice floes is closely associated with dramatic representations of nature as an awe-inspiring force and the associated feeling of the sublime. Monet, on the other hand, captured the spectacle in delicate color harmonies, evoking a mood of introspection and solitude—aspects that already prefigure the visual effect of his later water lily pictures. Due to the rapidly approaching thaw, Monet had only a few days to capture the motif on location. In such situations he had to take special care to record the ephemeral impressions of nature on the canvas with sufficient subtlety to be able to finish the series later in the studio in recognizably different variations. The fine differentiation of textures and the contrast between the impasto relief of the ice floes and the smooth surface of the river Seine show parallels to the series of the Cathedral of Rouen (1892–1894), whose execution overlapped to some extent with this series of works. Monet painted an additional series of works devoted to the river in 1896–97 with the title Morning on the Seine.

In the four-volume catalogue raisonné of Monet’s paintings compiled by Daniel Wildenstein, The Garden at Vétheuil is listed as no. 666 (vol. 2, p. 251). The picture was acquired in 1901 by the Berlin art dealer Paul Cassirer, who was one of the most ardent supporters of French Impressionism and who procured numerous important works for German museums and private collections in the early 20th century.

Daniel Zamani

Claude Monet Memorial Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January/February 1927, no. 25

Monet in the '90s: The Series Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, February 7–April 29, 1990; The Art Institute of Chicago, May 19–August 12, 1990; Royal Academy of Art, London, September 7–December 9, 1990, no. 44

Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, Museum Barberini, Potsdam, January 21–May 28, 2017

Rodin im Dialog mit Monet: Die gemeinsame Ausstellung im Jahr 1889, Museum Barberini, Potsdam, May 31–October 3, 2017

Claude Monet: The Truth of Nature, Denver Art Museum, October 20, 2019–February 2, 2020

Monet: Orte, Museum Barberini, Potsdam, February 22–July 19, 2020, no. 80

Impressionism: The Hasso Plattner Collection, Museum Barberini, Potsdam, from September 5, 2020

December 1893, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, purchased from the artist
1894, Guy de Cholet, Paris
1895, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris
1905, Charles Harrison Tweed, Boston
ca. 1917, Mrs. Charles Harrison Tweed, Boston
ca. 1927, Mrs. Graham B. Blaine, Boston
n.d., Private collection
November 3, 1981, Christie’s, New York, lot 22
n.d., Private collection
December 3, 1985, Sotheby’s, London, lot 25
Private collection, USA, acquired at the above sale
December 2016, purchased from a private collection

Claude Monet: Memorial Exhibition, exh. cat. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1927, no. 25

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 3, Lausanne 1979, no. 1334, p. 160, 275, ill. p. 161

Paul Hayes Tucker, Monet: Le triomphe de la lumière, Paris 1990, p. 168, 212, ill. p. 169

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Lausanne 1991, p. 49

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue Raisonné. Werkverzeichnis, vol. 3, Cologne 1996, no. 1334, ill. p. 542

Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, exh. cat. Museum Barberini, Potsdam 2017, no. 81, ill. p. 217

Claude Monet: The Truth of Nature, exh. cat. Denver Art Museum, Denver 2019, no. 80, ill. p. 191

Monet: Orte, exh. cat. Museum Barberini, Potsdam 2020, no. 80, ill. p. 191