.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Views of the Seine were among the attractions that drew Monet to the small villages along its banks during the 1860s and 1870s. He moved near Bougival in 1869 and painted, alongside Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the nearby restaurant and bathing establishment La Grenouillière. In December 1871 he relocated to Argenteuil where he lived for the next five years painting various stretches of the river and the small towns dotting the surrounding countryside.
It is clear from Monet's paintings of Argenteuil that the artist preferred spots to which he returned again and again. Crossing the Seine by way of a new bridge, Monet presumably worked from the riverbank at the left, just downstream from Argenteuil. Painted in 1872, the Seine is here depicted at its highest point during the floods of the winter of that same year.
Among the Impressionists, Monet is the one most closely identified with the Seine. His paintings of Argentueil are central to his career and remarkable in their depiction of the area's conflicting identities as both a rustic retreat and a growing suburb. Canvases such as the present work fuse dynamic brushwork and subtle colouration, capturing this unusually active waterway in a moment of timeless calm.
It is clear from Monet's paintings of Argenteuil that the artist preferred spots to which he returned again and again. Crossing the Seine by way of a new bridge, Monet presumably worked from the riverbank at the left, just downstream from Argenteuil. Painted in 1872, the Seine is here depicted at its highest point during the floods of the winter of that same year.
Among the Impressionists, Monet is the one most closely identified with the Seine. His paintings of Argentueil are central to his career and remarkable in their depiction of the area's conflicting identities as both a rustic retreat and a growing suburb. Canvases such as the present work fuse dynamic brushwork and subtle colouration, capturing this unusually active waterway in a moment of timeless calm.