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Lot Essay
Claude Monet traveled to Norway in 1895 to visit his stepson Jacques Hoschedé and his new Norwegian wife. The painter had also heard from artists such as Fritz Thaulow about the natural splendors of the country which he intended to paint during his visit. Arriving in Christiana (now Oslo) in the middle of winter, Monet was disappointed to find the city covered in snow. Unable to work, he decided to travel with Jacques to Sandviken, a town about three-quarters of an hour from Christiana.
Monet owned a portfolio of Hokusai's thirty-six views of Mount Fuji and although he had no first-hand knowledge of Japan, he wrote that Sanviken "looks a lot like a Japanese village" and that Mount Kolsaas, which dominated the landscape, "makes one think of Fuji-Yama". Hokusai's bold, simplified presentation of the mountain was an important influence on Monet. He produced thirteen pictures in all (exactly half of his total output in Norway) depicting the mountain at different times of the day and in different atmospheric conditions.
Monet owned a portfolio of Hokusai's thirty-six views of Mount Fuji and although he had no first-hand knowledge of Japan, he wrote that Sanviken "looks a lot like a Japanese village" and that Mount Kolsaas, which dominated the landscape, "makes one think of Fuji-Yama". Hokusai's bold, simplified presentation of the mountain was an important influence on Monet. He produced thirteen pictures in all (exactly half of his total output in Norway) depicting the mountain at different times of the day and in different atmospheric conditions.