The Artist's House at Argenteuil

Oil on canvasClaude Monet (French, 1840–1926)/1873

Description

Claude Monet and his family lived at Argenteuil, outside Paris, from 1871 to 1878. Here he depicted his five- or six-year-old son, Jean, playing with a hoop and his wife, Camille, standing in the doorway of their vine-covered house. The pleasant weather and neatly kept garden, a forerunner of the artist’s celebrated garden at Giverny, give a sense of tranquility and well-being to this painting. This was a period of financial security for Monet thanks to recent sales of his work to the Paris art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.

Provenance

The artist (d. 1926); possibly sold to Alexandre Dubourg, Paris, 1873 [per Wildenstein 1996, the Durand-Ruel Archives could not verify this information, as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; possibly sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Jan. 9, 1882 [per Wildenstein 1996, the Durand-Ruel Archives could not verify this information: “Durand-Ruel Paris (stock 2147) achète à Dubourg un tableau de Monet intitulé Son jardin le 9 janvier 1882 mais nous n’avons aucune preuve qu’il s’agisse du tableau du AIC,” Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1880–82 and stock book for 1880–84; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]. Durand-Ruel, Paris, Apr. 29, 1890, for 1,500 francs [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book May 1, 1890 (no. 277, as Maison de l’artiste), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file; in the same letter, the Durand-Ruel Archives state that they do not know from whom the painting was purchased]; sold to Potter Palmer, Chicago, July 8, 1891, for 5,000 francs; sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, Nov. 23, 1894, for $2,500 [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1894–1905 (no. 1279, as Sa Maison à Argenteuil), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; sold to Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, Apr. 24, 1912, for $6,200 [see previous; a purchase receipt on Durand-Ruel letterhead, dated May 23, 1912, 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.

Dimensions

60.2 × 73.3 cm (23 11/16 × 28 7/8 in.)

Source

The Art Institute of Chicago

Movement / Period

Impressionism

Accession No

16554

Official Citations

[The Art Institute of Chicago Official Record][Full Resolution Image]

Curatorial Affinity Stream

Continuing the Universe of Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)

Impressionism • France • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries

Continuous Discovery