Description:

Monet Claude

Claude Monet Rejects Giverny Visitor: "at this moment I am working"

 

2pp autograph letter in French inscribed overall by French Impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926), and signed by him as "Claude Monet" near the top of the second page. The two pages of the letter are displayed on either side of a color reproduction of one of Monet's iconic studies of water lilies. Strikingly presented in a cream mat enhanced with gilt filet measuring 28" x 13.25" x .5" overall.

 

In this letter written at Monet's home at Giverny, France on November 22, 1907, the artist asks art critic Félix Fénéon (1861-1944) to get rid of an unwelcome guest who threatened to interrupt his work schedule. Purple ink on cream paper, the first sheet with purple embossed "Giverny Par Vernon Eure" letterhead at upper right. Expected paper folds and a few wrinkles. The stationery was probably once bifold, but the sheets are now separated. Else near fine. The "C" and "d" of "Claude" are lightly feathered. The letter measures 5.125" x 8.125" alone.

 

Translated in part, with spelling mistakes silently corrected:

 

"22 Novber 1907

 

Dear Mr. Fénéon

 

Of what you tell me, I [illegible] now, of this amateur banker and would like very much to avoid his visit, and if you are of the opinion, you could make him understand that at this moment I am working, that his visit would disturb [illegible] you would give me much pleasure.

 

Thanks for [giving] the works and sketches to me.

 

Better health

[illegible]

 

Claude Monet".

 

Transcript, with unchanged spelling and punctuation:

 

"22 Novbre 1907

 

Cher Monsieur Fénéon

 

De ce que vous me dîtes, je ne [illegible] maintenant, de ce banquier amateur et voudrais bien eviter sa visite, et si vous en avoir l'avis, vous pouviez lui faire comprendre qu'en ce moment je travaille, que sa visite me déranger [illegible] vous me feriez un grand plaisir.

 

Merci d'oeuvres et croquis à moi.

 

Meilleur santé

[illegible]

 

Claude Monet".

 

Claude Monet is considered a foundational figure in the artistic movement known as Impressionism; indeed, his 1872 painting entitled Impression, Sunrise inadvertently determined the name of the school.  Impressionists celebrated painting en plein air, or directly in the landscape. They were fascinated with documenting subtle changes observed in the landscape at different times of the day, during different seasons, and in different weather conditions. No subject was too mundane for the Impressionists; a haystack coated in frost or a pair of battered old shoes were as significant as a religious painting or historical scene. Another aspect that differentiated the Impressionists from the established artists of the day was their method of painting. Impressionists painted quickly, often using rapid and fluid brush strokes. In this way, their work was much more spontaneous, in spirit and form, than those sanctioned by the Academy. Monet's unique handwriting, with its series of disconnected vertical lines and flowing direction, resembles painting in more ways than traditional writing.

 

Claude Monet lived at Giverny, a coastal town in Normandy located 76 km north of Paris, between 1883 and his death in 1926. During his residency there, Monet added a studio, expanded his gardens, and constructed a Japanese inspired foot bridge. His home was a combination of the sophisticated and rustic; in the kitchen furnished with plain table and chairs, the yellow-painted walls were decorated with vivid Japanese woodblock prints.

 

In 1907, Monet's "work" most likely concerned water lilies. As he did so many other times with different studies, Monet returned again and again to the same subjects: haystacks, cathedral facades, and in this case, water lilies. Monet acquired dozens of varieties of water lilies and planted them at Giverny over his lifetime.

 

Monet's correspondent Félix Fénéon was born in Italy but educated in France. The art critic coined the term "Neo-Impressionists" to describe pointillist painter Georges Seurat and other modernists, and championed their work. The identity of Monet's unwelcome guest is unknown, but Monet's disparaging way of describing him as an "amateur banker" suggests that he was perhaps a businessman and dilletante painter.

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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