À propos de l’œuvre
La berge de la Seine, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Lavacourt and Vétheuil · 1880 · W615
The Bank of the Seine in Lavacourt W615hand painted reproduction
From the river, Monet looks at the bank of Lavacourt, a village opposite Vétheuil. Water occupies almost half of the canvas; above, a strip of land, houses with orange roofs and a mass of trees make up a bank without character, entirely animated by reflections and touches. Painted in 1880, this oil on canvas measuring 60 × 73 cm is kept at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires under number 2713 and corresponds to Wildenstein 615.
Look at the work
The expanse of the Seine transforms a row of ordinary houses into a landscape of light
The composition is based on horizontal bands: the water in the foreground, the clear bank, the buildings, the trees then the sky. Monet, however, breaks this stability with the irregular heights of the poplars, the slopes of the roofs and the oblique touches which run along the surface of the river.
The white, pink and blue facades are never isolated by a continuous outline. They mingle with foliage and fences, while their colors extend into the water. The current thus becomes the place where the sky, the vegetation and the village are recomposed into a mobile material.
The real subject is not only the Lavacourt bank: it is the interval of water which separates it from the painter and transforms each color into an unstable reflection.
Composition, touch and light
What Monet builds behind the impression of snapshot
Three precise elements allow us to understand this composition and the essential difficulties of faithful reproduction.
A point of view linked to the workshop boat
The museum notice recalls that Monet traveled the Seine in his boat designed to paint as close as possible to the water. The very low height of the bank and the importance given to the river correspond to this direct experience.
Keys that change direction depending on the pattern
In water, brushstrokes are mostly horizontal and undulating; in trees they become short, vertical and tight. The gesture distinguishes materials while maintaining a common vibration.
Light without spectacular shadow
The pale blue, cloudy sky diffuses regular light. Monet avoids a theatrical solar effect and instead gives rise to the depth of small differences between greens, pinks, blues and earths.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The single image is a public domain color reproduction of version 2713. The file measures 2748 × 2236 px and is encoded as a true WebP at its native definition, without oversampling.
Retain the large part occupied by water
Reducing the foreground would cause the distance between the gaze and the village to be lost. The reflections must remain broad enough to lead the eye towards the bank.
Preserve partially hidden houses
The facades appear between the trees and the fences. Making them too clear would transform this atmospheric landscape into an architectural view.
Maintain discontinuous reflections
They are not exact vertical copies of objects. Blue, pink, green and brown touches are juxtaposed according to the movement of the water and must retain their autonomy.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes documents The Bank of the Seine, oil on canvas from 1880, 60 × 73 cm, inventory 2713 and Wildenstein catalog 615.
The south bank of Lavacourt, facing Vétheuil
Monet then lived on the other bank of the Seine. Between 1878 and 1881, he regularly studied these villages, their houses and the changes in the river.
A work purchased for Buenos Aires in 1910
Durand-Ruel acquired the painting in early 1910. It was then presented in the French mailing to the International Centenary Exhibition and entered the Argentine national collection.
A signed but undated canvas
The museum indicates that the year 1880 is established by Daniel Wildenstein's catalog raisonné, where the work bears the number 615.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The Wildenstein 615 version
- The great expanse of the Seine in the foreground
- The houses of Lavacourt behind the bank
- Fragmented blue, pink and green reflections
Work sheet
| Title | The Bank of the Seine in Lavacourt W615 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1880 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 60 × 73 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Inventory | 2713 · Wildenstein 615 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This horizontal composition is suitable above a sofa, sideboard or desk. A mist blue, sage green or light beige wall and a natural oak frame extend its soft light and the richness of its reflections.
