À propos de l’œuvre
La Débâcle, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Debacle of the Seine · 1882 · W571
The W571 Debaclehand painted reproduction
A large surface of green and blue water extends in front of a shore of thin poplars. Tapered ice cubes drift in the foreground and interrupt the vertical reflections of the trees; in the distance, a luminous gap opens the river to the left under a pink and turquoise sky. Dated 1882, this oil on canvas measuring 61.5 × 100 cm is kept at the Kunstmuseum Bern under the number G 1870 and corresponds to Wildenstein 571.
Look at the work
The ice dissolves in turquoise water under a line of poplars
The bank crosses the middle of the composition but remains open to the left. Trunks rise in irregular groups, with a darker concentration on the right edge; below, their fragmented reflections descend between the light bands of ice.
The turquoise blue of the sky passes directly into the water. Roses, yellow greens and mauves warm this cold dominant, while a few almost black browns give weight to the banks and trunks.
In W571, the ice cubes no longer form large opaque blocks: they become clear and oblique touches which mingle with reflections, like a first prefiguration of the floating surfaces painted later in Giverny.
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 low bank open over the distance
The interruption on the left avoids the barrier effect and leads towards a very light blue horizon. The clumps of trees are then distributed to the right edge without decorative regularity.
Ice cubes rendered in shards
Light shapes are often separated by thin green or blue lines. Their obliquity indicates the current and opposes the vertical reflections of poplars.
An unusually bright palette
Turquoise dominates, but the roses of the sky and the greens and yellows of the water prevent the scene from appearing monochrome. Dark accents are enough to maintain the structure.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The only reference photograph is kept at its native definition of 1024 × 658 px then encoded in real WebP, without artificial enlargement.
Keep the opening clear to the left
This gap gives W571 its depth and balances the dark group of poplars that closes the opposite edge.
Preserve fine, broken ice cubes
They must not become a white ice floe. Their dispersion leaves the water visible and produces the characteristic horizontal rhythm of the canvas.
Keep the turquoise mixed with pink
The accuracy of this colorful alliance distinguishes the Berne version from the grayer or snowier debacles painted around Vétheuil.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Kunstmuseum Bern documents La Débâcle, oil on canvas dated 1882, 61.5 × 100 cm, inventory G 1870 and catalog Wildenstein 571.
The Seine after the frost of the winter of 1879-1880
Monet starts from a phenomenon observed near Vétheuil: the ice sheets move, transform the reflections and continually modify the distribution of light on the water.
Wildenstein number 571
The long poplar bank, the blue opening on the left and the turquoise palette make it possible to precisely identify the version preserved in Bern.
Legacy of Eugen Loeb at the Kunstmuseum Bern
The work belongs to the museum's collections under number G 1870. The presentation notice describes it as an oil on canvas re-coiled 61.5 × 100 cm.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The Wildenstein 571 version
- The bright opening of the river on the left
- The irregular line of poplars
- Light ice cubes mixed with turquoise reflections
Work sheet
| Title | The W571 Debacle |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1882 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 61.5 × 100 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland |
| Inventory | G 1870 · Wildenstein 571 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This panoramic composition is suitable for a living room, dining room or bedroom. A gray blue, mineral pink or deep green wall and a dark setting highlight its cold palette crossed by light.
