.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
MONET FIRST RENTED HIS CELEBRATED HOUSE IN GIVERNY HOUSE IN 1890. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS HE HAD ENOUGH FUNDS TO BUY THE HOUSE WITH ITS EXTENSIVE GARDEN AND SOON BEGAN WORK TO IMPROVE THE BUILDING, TO ADD LARGE STUDIOS AND, ABOVE ALL, TO LAY OUT AN ELABORATE GARDEN WITH A POND OF WATER LILIES BEYOND IT. THIS GARDEN BECAME HIS GREATEST SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR ALMOST FORTY YEARS. THIS INCREDIBLY RICH GARDEN PROVIDED HIM WITH AN ENDLESS CHOICE OF SUBJECTS FOR HIS LATER SERIES PAINTINGS.
LA MAISON à TRAVERS LES ROSES, PAINTED CIRCA 1925-26, IS ONE FROM HIS THIRD AND FINAL SERIES WHICH WAS DEDICATED TO DEPICTING THE HOUSE IN THE GARDEN FROM THE SAME VIEWPOINT AT VARIOUS TIMES OF THE DAY. THIS THIRD SERIES CONSITUTES FOUR WORKS SHOWING THE WEST-FACING SIDE OF THE HOUSE WITH THE ARTIST'S BEDROOM WINDOW CLEARLY VISIBLE ABOVE THE FLOWERS TO THE RIGHT OF THE BUILDING. WHILST THE MAJORITY OF THESE PAINTINGS ARE IN A PRIVATE COLLECTION, THE STEDELIJK MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN AMSTERDAM ACQUIRED THE FIRST OF THEM (W. 1959) FOR ITS COLLECTION IN 1959.
GIVERNY WAS A LASTING INSPIRATION TO MONET. AS JOHN REWALD SAYS IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THE GARDENS AT GIVERNY, OXFORD, 1983: 'IN MOMENTS OF JOY, AS IT MOMENTS OF GRIEF, HE COULD TURN TO HIS GARDEN; THE SILENCE OF NATURE SPOKE TO HIM THROUGH HER MANIFOLD CREATIONS. BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM THERE EXISTED A DEEP UNDERSTANDING THAT SUSTAINED HIM IN DIFFICULT HOURS. GIVERNY WAS HIS WORLD, UNLIKE ANY OTHER ANYWHERE, AND HE WAS ITS SUPREME MASTER'.
MONET WAS STILL WORKING ON THIS SERIES WHEN HE DIED IN 1926.
LA MAISON à TRAVERS LES ROSES, PAINTED CIRCA 1925-26, IS ONE FROM HIS THIRD AND FINAL SERIES WHICH WAS DEDICATED TO DEPICTING THE HOUSE IN THE GARDEN FROM THE SAME VIEWPOINT AT VARIOUS TIMES OF THE DAY. THIS THIRD SERIES CONSITUTES FOUR WORKS SHOWING THE WEST-FACING SIDE OF THE HOUSE WITH THE ARTIST'S BEDROOM WINDOW CLEARLY VISIBLE ABOVE THE FLOWERS TO THE RIGHT OF THE BUILDING. WHILST THE MAJORITY OF THESE PAINTINGS ARE IN A PRIVATE COLLECTION, THE STEDELIJK MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN AMSTERDAM ACQUIRED THE FIRST OF THEM (W. 1959) FOR ITS COLLECTION IN 1959.
GIVERNY WAS A LASTING INSPIRATION TO MONET. AS JOHN REWALD SAYS IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THE GARDENS AT GIVERNY, OXFORD, 1983: 'IN MOMENTS OF JOY, AS IT MOMENTS OF GRIEF, HE COULD TURN TO HIS GARDEN; THE SILENCE OF NATURE SPOKE TO HIM THROUGH HER MANIFOLD CREATIONS. BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM THERE EXISTED A DEEP UNDERSTANDING THAT SUSTAINED HIM IN DIFFICULT HOURS. GIVERNY WAS HIS WORLD, UNLIKE ANY OTHER ANYWHERE, AND HE WAS ITS SUPREME MASTER'.
MONET WAS STILL WORKING ON THIS SERIES WHEN HE DIED IN 1926.