À propos de l’œuvre
Massif de chrysanthèmes, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Giverny, 1897 · Kunstmuseum Basel G 1970.11 · W1496
Chrysanthemum massif, Basel W1496hand painted reproduction
The canvas is entirely covered with flowers seen at the height of the massif. No vase, no table, no horizon line comes to order them. Large white corollas occupy both sides, while reds, purples and yellows group together in the center. Monet thus transforms a garden bed into a panoramic surface where the flowers seem to move forward or backward solely through their colored values.
Look at the work
The white corollas open luminous islands in a carpet of purple, green and yellow
The lighter flowers are placed in irregular clusters. On the left, the whites tend towards mauve and pink; on the right, they become greener and creamier. Their petals are not drawn one by one: superimposed curls, commas and impasto give volume while retaining the sensation of abundant flowering.
Between these light masses, red and burgundy chrysanthemums form several dark nuclei. Smaller yellow flowers cross the center diagonally, surrounded by acidic greens. The blue-green background appears only in fragments. This distribution avoids the effect of a repetitive pattern and circulates the gaze without a single center.
Monet paints less of an inventory of flowers than a continuous space of colors, where each corolla exists in contrast to those that surround it.
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.
Whites built with pink, purple and green
Large, light flowers should never be filled with pure white. Their colorful shadows give volume and distinguish them from each other.
Several reds instead of a burgundy mass
Carmine, red-brown, purple and pink overlap in dark groups. Preserving these gaps prevents the center from becoming compact and airless.
A very mobile yellow diagonal
The small yellow-green flowers connect the lower left to the upper right. Their sizes and irregular intervals give the essential rhythm of the massif.
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 best free public view measures 600 × 480 px after removing the legend tape. Both native details measure 310 × 390 px. No files have been artificially enlarged; all three media are true decodable 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.
Basel G 1970.11, Wildenstein 1496
The Kunstmuseum Basel preserves this oil on canvas from 1897 under number G 1970.11. The work measures approximately 81 × 100 cm and corresponds to number 1496 of the Wildenstein catalog raisonné.
Claude Monet 97 lower left
The painting bears the signature and date at the bottom left. It belongs to the group of large chrysanthemum beds made by Monet in 1897, distinct from the vase bouquets of his previous decades.
Four massifs exhibited at the Galerie Georges Petit
In June 1898, Monet presented four large chrysanthemum paintings listed W1495 to W1498. The Basel version has been deposited in the museum by Dr. hc Emile Dreyfus-Stiftung since 1970.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version of the Kunstmuseum Basel, G 1970.11 and W1496
- The original horizontal ratio of approximately 81 × 100 cm
- Large white flowers modeled with colorful shadows
- The yellow diagonal preserved without mechanical repetition
Work sheet
| Title | Chrysanthemum massif, Basel W1496 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1897 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 81 × 100 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland |
| Inventory | G 1970.11 · Wildenstein 1496 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Purple white, burgundy, lime yellow, deep green and powder pink give this reproduction an immediate decorative richness. Its horizontal format is suitable above a sofa, sideboard or bed, with cream, gray green or earth pink walls.
