À propos de l’œuvre
La Grenouillère, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Le Camembert and the floating restaurant · Metropolitan Museum of Art
The W134 onesiehand painted reproduction
A small circular island, nicknamed Camembert, receives a group of visitors in the middle of the Seine. On the right, the floating restaurant cuts the edge of the composition; in front, the boats and reflections fill the water. Monet seizes the place from a close position, at the moment when silhouettes, sun and swirls mingle.
Look at the work
Camembert connects crowds, footbridges and water
The floating island disk is placed slightly to the right of the center and brings together figures sitting or standing around a tree. A narrow walkway joins it from the left. The restaurant pavilion, cropped on the right, forms a vertical mass which balances the great void of water.
In the foreground, a green boat enters from the left corner and other hulls are partially visible in the shade on the right. The white, blue and yellow bands of the reflections describe the wrinkles of the Seine. In the background, a few white sails stand out in front of the light trees.
The characters remain almost still, but the brushstrokes of the water circulate the entire scene around 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 round island as a social center
The Camembert concentrates visitors without placing itself exactly on the axis. Its low, circular shape contrasts with the vertical trunk that crosses it.
A deliberately cut flag
The restaurant overflows from the right edge, as in a snapshot. This framing brings the viewer closer together and refuses a well-ordered panoramic view.
Short, contrasting reflections
Whites, yellows, blues and greens line up in small marks on a dark base. They simultaneously render the movement of water and afternoon light.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The unique reference corresponds to inventory 29.100.112 of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, version Wildenstein 134. The frameless file has been reduced without enlargement to 3000 × 2244 px and encoded in WebP.
Camembert remains low on the water
Its ellipse should not become too vertical. The walkway, legs and reflections are enough to give it its volume.
The restaurant remains incomplete in the framework
Its right edge is cut and its roof is only partially visible. This cropping is a major factor in the composition.
The white sails are very far away
They appear as small triangles behind the tree. Their small size reinforces the scale of the figures in the foreground.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
This oil on canvas measuring 74.6 × 99.7 cm, dated 1869, is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under number 29.100.112 and classified Wildenstein 134.
Monet and Renoir at La Grenouillère
During the summer of 1869, the two painters set up their easels in this swimming and boating place on the Seine. The Met compares this composition to a version by Renoir today at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Le Camembert and the floating restaurant
The circular island planted with a tree was connected by footbridges to the shore and the establishment. These elements clearly distinguish W134 from London's W135 Bathers, where the restaurant remains off-camera.
The Havemeyer legacy of 1929
The painting entered the Metropolitan Museum with the HO Havemeyer collection, bequeathed by Louisine Havemeyer. Its object number, 29.100.112, precisely identifies this version.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Place the circular island slightly to the right of center.
- Respect the cropped roof on the right edge.
- Circulate the reflections in small light and dark touches.
- Preserve the tiny sails and the greenish-yellow shore of the bottom.
Work sheet
| Title | The W134 onesie |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1869 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 74.6 × 99.7 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States |
| Inventory | 29.100.112 · Wildenstein 134 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
The brightness of the water and the animation of the figures are suitable for a living room, dining room or work space. A deep green, bluish black or walnut frame reinforces the shells and shadows without stifling the yellow background.
