À propos de l’œuvre
Le Dîner, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · A family table lit by a hanging lamp · EG Bührle Collection
Dinner, known as The Sisley Family, W129hand painted reproduction
Four people gather around a round table covered with a white tablecloth. A hanging lamp, placed exactly above the meal, focuses the light on faces, dishes and hands; all around, the room sinks into browns. This rare interior scene shows Monet attentive to nocturnal contrasts before his major outdoor research.
Look at the work
An island of light in the center of a dark interior
The pendant light descends in line with the canvas and its white lampshade directly illuminates the table. A child sits on the left, two figures face the viewer and a man seen from behind closes the foreground. The circular arrangement brings the bodies together around the light.
On the right, the fireplace brings a second orange warmth to the parquet floor and the coat. A carafe, plates and a few dishes punctuate the tablecloth; on the shelf, gray vases remain almost absorbed by the wall. The left background remains much darker.
The tablecloth and the lamp draw two very different whites: one collects the figures, the other suspends the light source above them.
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 composition adjusted by the axis of the lamp
The suspension, its tank and the back of the chair in the foreground align vertically. Around this axis, the four figures form an irregular and living circle.
Two light temperatures
The lamp produces yellow whites on the table and faces. The fireplace adds deeper oranges to the right, while the corners of the room remain almost black browns.
Suggested, undescribed faces
Monet uses some warm tones and shadows to indicate features. The readability of the scene comes more from attitudes, hands and direction of gaze than from portrait detail.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The image corresponds to inventory 75 of the EG Bührle Collection Foundation, Wildenstein version 129. The file of 2,347 × 1,800 px has been kept at its native definition and encoded in WebP.
The lamp must remain the clearest value
Its lampshade and globe dominate without being uniformly white; yellows, grays and small black accents define its structure.
The back figure anchors the foreground
Its dark mass and the back of the chair close the table. It should not completely merge with the bottom.
The tablecloth changes tone around each object
Cream white, gray green and yellow juxtapose. The dishes and hands emerge through small differences rather than strong contours.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
Painted in 1868 -1869, this painting of 50 × 65 cm is kept by the EG Bührle Collection Foundation under inventory 75 and classified Wildenstein 129.
Dinner, also called The Sisley Family
The Wildenstein catalog lists the work under number 129. Its secondary name recalls the identification traditionally associated with the family group represented around the table.
A work purchased from Monet by Durand-Ruel
Durand-Ruel acquired the painting directly from the artist in February 1873. It then went through several collections before its acquisition by Emil Bührle in 1944.
Inventory 75 since 1960
The heirs of Emil Bührle donated the work to the foundation in 1960. The collection notice confirms the date 1868 -1869, the dimensions, the signature at the bottom left and the Wildenstein number 129.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Align the lamp, table and chair in the foreground.
- Maintain the strong contrast between light tablecloth and dark room.
- Differentiate between lamp and fireplace light.
- Suggest faces without hardening their contours.
Work sheet
| Title | Dinner, known as The Sisley Family, W129 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1868 - 1869 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 50 × 65 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | EG Bührle Collection Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland |
| Inventory | 75 · Wildenstein 129 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This intimate scene is suitable for a cozy dining room, library or living room. A walnut, weathered black or mahogany brown frame prolongs the darkness and brings out the luminous tablecloth.
