Boulevard St. Denis, Argenteuil in Winter by Monet in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, January 2018

Boulevard Saint-Denis, Argenteuil, in Winter

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)

1875

Medium/Technique: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 60.9 x 81.6 cm (24 x 32 1/8 in.)

Credit Line: Gift of Richard Saltonstall

Accession Number: 1978.633

Collections: Europe

Classifications: Paintings


The Impressionist interest in specific effects of light and weather is evident in Monet's rendering of the exact moment in which the sun struggles to break through a light snowfall. He made a preparatory sketch for this painting; clearly, careful deliberation lay behind his seemingly spontaneous technique. The subject of falling snow and the figures with umbrellas are reminiscent of Japanese woodblock prints, which had a strong influence on Impressionist artists.
Catalogue Raisonné Wildenstein 1996, no. 357a

Inscriptions: Lower right: Claude Monet 90

Provenance: By 1888, Henri Kapferer, Paris [see note 1]; July 17, 1888, sold by Kapferer to Durand-Ruel, Paris (stock no. 1688) [see note 2]; September 25, 1890, sold by Durand-Ruel to Joseph Foxcroft Cole (b. 1837 - d. 1892) for Peter Chardon Brooks (b. 1831 - d. 1920), Boston; by descent to his daughter, Eleanor Brooks (Mrs. Richard M.) Saltonstall, Boston [see note 3]; by descent to her son, Richard Saltonstall (b. 1897 - d. 1982), Boston; 1978, gift of Richard Saltonstall to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 10, 1978)

NOTES:
[1] According to notes in the MFA curatorial file, Kapferer might have acquired this directly from the artist.

[2] The provenance information given here (between 1888 and 1890) is taken from Daniel Wildenstein, "Monet: catalogue raisonné" (1996), vol. 2, p. 148, cat. no. 357a.

[3] She first lent this painting to the MFA in 1920.


Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/34290/boulevard-saintdenis-argenteuil-in-winter