À propos de l’œuvre
Le pont de marche japonais et la piscine de lily d'eau, Giverny, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1899 · Philadelphia Museum of Art · W1512
The Japanese Gateway, Philadelphia W1512hand painted reproduction
The Japanese footbridge stretches in a large blue-green curve in front of the willows and massifs of Giverny. Beneath it, the water is covered with pink, white and yellow water lilies, distributed in increasingly wide bands towards the foreground. This 1899 version, kept in Philadelphia, combines a relatively dark bridge with a luminous pool where brown and turquoise reflections give all the depth.
Look at the work
A blue-green arch holds the composition while the garden is reflected throughout the lower half
The bridge crosses the middle with a slow curve. Its uprights mix slate blue, green, lavender and some yellows; they never form a uniform grid. The foliage at the bottom is dense and deep in the center, more golden on the right. On the left, the willow descends almost vertically and reinforces the contrast with the arch.
Under the footbridge, a first strip of light vegetation partially closes the opening. Further down, the pool unfolds in successive horizontal layers. Pink and white flowers punctuate the greens, red browns and blues. The Claude Monet 99 signature, placed at the bottom right, fully belongs to this area of aquatic material.
The bridge appears stable from a distance, but the zoom reveals that it is painted with the same fragmented touch and changing colors as the garden.
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.
An arch reinforced by several colored lines
The blue, green, purple and red brown apron overlays. These parallel bands remain irregular and must follow the curve without transforming it into too sharp a graphic shape.
Foliage closed in the center, open on the sides
The dark vegetation behind the middle of the bridge brings out the railing. The yellow and silver areas on the right then create a bright opening.
A foreground obtained by widening the keys
The lower water lilies are larger and more spaced apart than those placed under the bridge. This progression, associated with the reflection bands, moves the water towards the viewer.
Details and visual documents
Observe the material and the exact version
The additional images show the difficult-to-read passages in the full view and, where it exists, the actual appearance of the work at the museum.
High definition scanning measures 4,336 × 4,127 px. The two native 1,800 × 1,500 px cropping shows the walkway and water lilies without any artificial enlargement. All three media were converted and controlled as real WebPs.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
These facts concern this precise version and are verified from the notice of the institution which keeps it.
Philadelphia 1963-116-11, Wildenstein 1512
The Philadelphia Museum of Art titles the work Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool, Giverny and dates from 1899. This oil on canvas measures approximately 89.3 × 93.4 cm and corresponds to Wildenstein number 1512.
The Mr. and Mrs. Carroll S. Tyson, Jr., Collection
Accession number 1963-116-11 links the painting to the ensemble offered to the museum by Mr. and Mrs. Carroll S. Tyson, Jr. The museum today presents her among its major works of French impressionism.
One of the founding views of the Japanese bridge
In 1899, Monet completed several paintings devoted to the same bridge and the basin. Each version modifies the framing, the light ratios and the quantity of foliage; that of Philadelphia is distinguished by its dark arch and its very bright foreground.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version of Philadelphia, 1963-116-11 and W1512
- The original almost square format of approximately 89.3 × 93.4 cm
- The blue-green arch kept supple and slightly irregular
- The depth of the pool constructed by several strips of flowers
Work sheet
| Title | The Japanese Gateway, Philadelphia W1512 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1899 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 89.3 × 93.4 cm |
| Orientation | Almost square |
| Conservation | Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Inventory | 1963-116-11 · Wildenstein 1512 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Deep green, lavender blue, moss yellow, soft pink and red brown produce rich plant light. This almost square reproduction is suitable for a living room, entrance or bedroom and particularly matches natural wood, linen and cream or gray green walls.
