À propos de l’œuvre
Le grand soleil, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Giverny · 1891 · W1266
Grinding wheels, late summer W1266hand painted reproduction
Two millstones stand in the Clos Morin in Giverny: the largest dominates the first right plane, while a second, smaller, recedes to the left under a pale sky. This oil on canvas measuring 60.5 × 100.8 cm, painted in 1891, is kept at the Musée d'Orsay under number RF 1975 3.
Look at the work
Two millstones make you feel the distance in a field bathed in late summer
The main millstone occupies almost the entire height of the field and approaches the right edge. Its companion, smaller and darker, is on the left. Between them, the light ground and the low line of the trees lead towards blue hills.
Straws combine beige, pink, purple and blue. The shadows remain colorful and transparent; the sky, very clear, takes on the same tones with more white. This continuity bathes the volumes in a common light.
W1266 does not describe two isolated objects: scale deviation, shadows and color changes transform the millstones into measurements of air and distance.
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.
The first reference of the strict cycle
W1266 opens the group of twenty-five millstones classified W1266 to W1290. Monet uses the same pattern over the seasons and hours to study precise light states.
A large off-center wheel
The right volume immediately catches the eye, but the small wheel on the left and the blue band at the bottom rebalance the composition. Their size difference creates a very direct depth.
The exact version RF 1975 3
The dimensions of 60.5 × 100.8 cm, the inventory of the Musée d'Orsay and the reference Wildenstein 1266 identify this painting among numerous versions bearing similar titles.
Reference image
Read this specific version
Only one reference image is used. The high definition scanning of RF 1975 3 is converted into a true WebP of 3000 × 1764 px, without artificial enlargement.
An exceptionally elongated format
The width of 100.8 cm and 60.5 cm in height lets the field breathe around the two volumes. A cropped reproduction that is too tight would cause this spatial relationship to be lost.
Blue and purple shadows
The shaded faces are not brown. They combine lilac, blue and pink, while the illuminated edges contain yellow and cream. These temperatures give their volume to the millstones.
A material oriented like straw
The keys follow the slopes of the gerbiers, becoming horizontal in the field and more melted in the sky. Their differentiated direction separates materials without rigid contours.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Musée d'Orsay documents Meules, end of summer, oil on canvas from 1891, 60.5 × 100.8 cm, inventory RF 1975 3 and Wildenstein 1266.
Clos Morin in Giverny
The gerbiers were near Monet's house. Several meters high, they kept the cereals after harvest and remained in place long enough to allow serial work.
Durand-Ruel, May 9, 1891
Paul Durand-Ruel bought this painting from Monet on May 9, 1891. The same month, the Parisian gallery brought together fifteen versions of the series in an exhibition which enjoyed immediate success.
Acquired by the National Museums in 1975
After the Durand-Ruel gallery and the collection of the Countess de Brecey, the work was acquired in 1975 thanks to funds from an anonymous Canadian donation, then allocated to the Musée d'Orsay.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version RF 1975 3, Wildenstein 1266
- The original panoramic format of 60.5 × 100.8 cm
- The large light millstone on the right and the small dark millstone on the left
- Lilac and blue shadows in late summer light
Work sheet
| Title | Grinding wheels, late summer W1266 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1891 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 60.5 × 100.8 cm |
| Orientation | Panoramic horizontal |
| Conservation | Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France |
| Inventory | RF 1975 3 · Wildenstein 1266 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Its panoramic format is suitable above a sofa, sideboard or bed. A light beige wall, oak and some blue-gray or old-pink textiles extend the soft palette without flattening it.
