C. Monet 3pp ALS Re: "wanting to make up for lost time, and paint some winter effects"

A 3pp autograph letter in French signed by Impressionist artist Claude Monet (1840-1926), as "Claude Monet" at the bottom of the third page. Written at Monet's home at Giverny par Vernon Eure, France on January 14, 1891. Boldly inscribed on three of four sides of the watermarked bifold paper in vivid purple ink, Monet's preferred color for correspondence. Expected wear including flattened mail folds, ink transference, and ink bleed-through, else near fine. 4.5" x 7." Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope also engrossed by Monet. Letter-opened at the top, with isolated water stains, and loss to the bottom, else good.

Monet wrote this letter to his friend Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898), the well-known French poet, art critic, salon host, and social influencer. Monet's oldest son Jean Monet (1867-1914), a sergeant in the Third Corps of the French Army, had been seriously ill that winter. Monet and Mallarmé had recently worked together to pull some bureaucratic strings in order to extend Jean's medical leave. Despite calling on many acquaintances to lobby on his son's behalf, Monet was only able to get his son's medical leave extended by an extra month.

Monet wrote Mallarmé in part: "Alas, the longed-for result for my son was not brilliant, and it was not kept complete with any recommendations, not even those of the Marshal nor of the ministry. I accompanied my son multiple times to Rouen…he obtained a month extension because the doctor found him too weak to resume service…It would take too long to recount to you all of my misadventures. Upon coming to Paris, I will tell you them. There it is, then, my son is required to return to his regiment on February 2. It is far from what I hoped for…"

Though Monet was certainly concerned by his son's predicament, he assured Mallarmé that: "I leave in the morning and return at night, [illegible] from fatigue, wanting to make up for lost time, and to paint some winter effects." ["je partais le matin pour rentrer le soir, [illegible] de fatigue, voulant rattraper le temps perdu et peindre quelques effets d'hiver."]

Monet was very busy during this period; he completed 25 paintings of his celebrated Haystacks series from the summer of 1890 through the spring of 1891. The series of oils on canvas depict the same subject matter: his neighbor's haystacks viewed in different seasons, times of day, weather conditions, and from a variety of perspectives. The paintings of Monet's Haystacks series are scattered around the world in various art museums and private collections. In January 1891, could Monet have been working on "Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning" (1891), now on display in the J. Paul Getty Museum, or perhaps "Grainstacks, Snow Effect" (1891), in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland? See the attached photos included for reference.

Monet would return to serial painting in other contexts: allées of poplar trees, the façade of Rouen Cathedral, and of course, the water lilies in his garden at Giverny. Not only was Monet fascinated with the seemingly endless variety of impressions he could create of the same subject, but he also understood that he could use serial painting to justify and legitimize the Impressionist method of working en Plein air, or working directly in the landscape.

Claude Monet is considered a foundational figure in the artistic movement known as Impressionism; indeed, his 1872 painting entitled "Impression, Sunrise" inadvertently gave its name to the artistic school. No subject was too mundane for the Impressionists; to them, a haystack coated in frost or a pair of battered old shoes could be imbued with the same significance as a religious painting or an historical scene. Impressionists painted quickly, often using rapid and fluid brush strokes. In this way, their work was much more spontaneous, in spirit and form, than those sanctioned by the Academy. Monet's unique handwriting, with its series of disconnected vertical lines and flowing direction, resembles painting in more ways than traditional writing.

Claude Monet lived at Giverny, a village in Normandy located 76 km north of Paris, between 1883 and his death in 1926. During his residency there, Monet added a studio, expanded his gardens, and constructed a Japanese-inspired footbridge. His home was a combination of sophisticated and rustic; in the kitchen furnished with plain table and chairs, the yellow-painted walls were decorated with vivid Japanese woodblock prints.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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