À propos de l’œuvre
La passerelle sur le bassin aux nymphéas, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1919 · Kunstmuseum Basel · W1916
The footbridge over the water lily pondhand painted reproduction
The Japanese bridge is nothing more than a blue-green arch taken from a dense garden. The light wisteria crosses the center, the yellow and turquoise foliage closes the sides, and the pool appears in fragments under this vegetation which has become almost abstract.
Look at the work
An arch still readable in a garden which transforms into a space of color
The footbridge describes a low curve in the center. Its balustrade is covered with touches of pale blue and sea green which respond to the flowers hanging above. On the left, the vegetation advances en masse; on the right, the long leaves of a willow close the scene and accentuate the enveloping effect.
Under the bridge, the pool is not a calm plane. The greens, yellows and blues are taken up by broad gestures, then punctuated by a few pinks and whites. Monet retains figurative landmarks, but the freedom of the brush leads them towards a continuous field of color.
The footbridge remains like a shape memory: its curve organizes the canvas even though vegetation threatens to absorb it entirely.
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 without continuous outline
The curve appears as a succession of blues, greens and whites. It must remain irregular, crossed by vegetation and not redesigned as an isolated structure.
Wisteria as a second gateway
The flowery band that crosses the center echoes the balustrade in a lighter range. This repetition gives its horizontal rhythm to the composition.
Sides that move towards the gaze
The yellow-green masses on the left and the willow leaves on the right frame the pool. Their differences in gesture create depth without traditional perspective.
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 photography measures 6420 × 3938 px. The details of 5000 × 1500 px and 5000 × 1450 px are direct cropping. 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.
Inventory G 1986.15, Wildenstein catalog 1916
This oil on canvas measuring 65.6 × 106.4 cm is signed and dated "Claude Monet 1919" at the bottom right. It is kept at the Kunstmuseum Basel.
The group's only footbridge signed and dated in 1919
This version is the only one from the late series of Japanese bridges to bear a signature and a date in Monet's hand. It was sold to Bernheim-Jeune in November 1919.
An entry into the museum in 1986
The Kunstmuseum Basel acquired it with a special credit from the Basel government and a contribution from the Max Geldner-Stiftung.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version G 1986.15, Wildenstein 1916
- The signature and the date 1919 at the bottom right
- The echo between wisteria and balustrade
- Dense vegetation preserved without uniform flatness
Work sheet
| Title | The footbridge over the water lily pond |
|---|---|
| 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
This horizontal reproduction brings a deep plant presence. Moss greens, turquoise, ocher yellow and dark blue match ivory, deep green, midnight blue or light wood walls.
