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Claude Monet
France,
1840-1926
La Berge à Lavacourt (Riverbank at Lavacourt),
1879
Oil on canvas
23 1/2 x 33 3/8 in.
The Aaron M. and Clara Weitzenhoffer Collection, 2000 |
In 1878, Monet moved from Argenteuil,
a weekend riverside resort and fast-changing suburb of Paris, to
Vétheuil, a small rural village further downriver on the
Seine. Vetheuil seemed untouched by industrialism and the modern
age, even though Paris was only sixty kilometers to the south. Monet
and his family lived there until 1881. Unlike the paintings of Monet's
Argenteuil period (1871-78), which depict the fusion of nature with
modern life, the paintings of the Vetheuil period are agrarian,
representing a countryside that had remained unchanged for centuries.
Often painting en plein air (outdoors), Monet scrutinized a concentrated
area surrounding the town in various seasons and weather.
One of Monet's favorite subjects during
this time was quaint Lavacourt, a hamlet on the left bank of the
Seine opposite from Vétheuil. In the present work, Monet
has painted the towpath along the river at Lavacourt.
Monet's Vétheuil period was
among the most productive in his career, but it was a difficult
time for him personally. The artist suffered financial hardship
and felt discouraged about his work, which critics attacked for
its lack of finish. Above all, during 1879 (the year of the present
work), his wife Camille was bedridden with an illness, probably
cancer, and she died in September, at age 32.
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