Art Institute of Chicago

Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist)

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)LinkedCulture matchlcp-8e614afd9c71

Date: 1897
Medium: Oil on canvas
Culture: France
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 16564

This placid landscape is the result of an energetic creative process. For months Claude Monet rose before dawn to travel by rowboat to the same location on the river Seine, where he painted 14 canvases simultaneously, reworking them as the light shifted. Although this painting appears hazy and vague, Monet made deliberate technical decisions—for instance, blurring a once-distinct horizon line with vigorously blended brushstrokes that grow looser as they radiate outward. Monet custom-ordered the nearly square canvas, an unusual shape that contributes to the disorienting nature of the scene, half of which represents a reflection on the water. By diffusing the landscape through these techniques, Monet attempted to capture the transience of light and mist, a theme he pursued throughout his career.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Provenance: Jos Hessel, Paris, by Oct. 26, 1916 [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1913–21 (no. 10908, as Matinée sur la Seine, 1897), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 5, 2013, curatorial object file; Wildenstein 1996 states this painting was sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel in 1913, which is not mentioned in the Durand-Ruel Archives]; sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Oct. 26, 1916, for 20,000 francs; sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, Nov. 6 or Dec. 4, 1916 [per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1913–21 (no. 10908, as Matinée sur la Seine, 1897) states: “Sold to DR New York on 6 November 1916.” The New York stock book for 1904–24 (no. 4023, as Matinée sur la Seine, 1897) states: “Purchased by DR New York on 4 December 1916.” Both confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 5, 2013, curatorial object file]; sold to Martin A. Ryerson, Chicago, Dec. 8, 1916, for $10,000 [per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 4023, as Matinée sur la Seine, 1897), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 5, 2013, curatorial object file; also a purchase receipt on Durand-Ruel letterhead, dated December 26, 1916, includes this painting as one of several sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to M. A. Ryerson, photocopy in curatorial object file]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.

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Object type: AAT300033618

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