À propos de l’œuvre
La passerelle sur le bassin aux nymphéas, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1919 · Basel · Wildenstein 1916
The Footbridge over the water lily pond, Baselhand painted reproduction
In this late canvas, the Giverny garden fills the entire field. Earthy yellows, acidic greens and deep blues surround a barely visible walkway, while wisteria flowers draw a clear line in the middle of the material.
Look at the work
The garden frames the footbridge like two curtains of material
On the left, touches of turquoise and cream form a mass of foliage that extends almost to the lower edge. On the right, darker greens and long willow leaves create a vertical wall. Between the two, the lower arch maintains a narrow passage towards the pool.
Color does not follow just one direction. The vertical gestures of the willow meet the horizontals of the water, the curves of the walkway and the punctuations of the wisteria. This diversity prevents the dominant green from becoming monotonous and gives each zone its own speed.
The difficulty is not finding each leaf, but preserving the changes of direction that make this plant mass breathe.
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 very textured left edge
Light turquoise, whites and yolks overlap without complete fusion. These breaks give the vegetation its proximity and thickness.
A center organized by two horizontals
The wisteria and the balustrade cross the canvas at neighboring heights. Their offset must remain perceptible to prevent the center from transforming into a uniform band.
A willow suggested by the direction of the gesture
On the right, the elongated leaves descend from the top. Their verticality is enough to identify the tree and contrasts with the more circular touches of the pool.
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.
The high definition view measures 6420 × 3938 px. The two details of 3000 × 2300 px show the left and right sides separately. No files have been enlarged; all three images are 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.
The Footbridge over the water lily pond, 1919
The painting measures 65.6 × 106.4 cm and bears Monet's signature and date at the bottom right. His inventory at the Kunstmuseum Basel is G 1986.15.
The Wildenstein 1916 version
This reference distinguishes the Basel canvas within late Japanese bridges. Monet sold it to Bernheim-Jeune in November 1919, unlike several versions remaining in his workshop.
Acquired thanks to two Basel supporters
The 1986 purchase was made possible by a special credit from the Basel government and a contribution from the Max Geldner Foundation.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The work of the Kunstmuseum Basel, inventory G 1986.15
- The Wildenstein 1916 catalog and the date 1919
- Changes in brush direction
- Greens differentiated by temperature and density
Work sheet
| Title | The Footbridge over the water lily pond, Basel |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1919 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 65.6 × 106.4 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland |
| Inventory | G 1986.15 · Wildenstein 1916 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
The deep greens, petrol blue and ocher yellow give this reproduction an enveloping character. It finds its place above a low piece of furniture on a cream, clay, dark green or gray blue wall.
