À propos de l’œuvre
Le Mont Kolsaas en Norvège, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1895 · Orsay RF 1967 7 · W1415
Mount Kolsås in Norway W1415hand painted reproduction
The Kolsås rises above an almost empty expanse of snow. Monet approaches the massif to the point of making it a large rounded shape, blue and pink, whose slopes dissolve in a milky sky. The dark trees remain caught in the mountain: they do not form a separate foreground, but a vibrant transition between snow and rock.
Look at the work
A pink and blue mountain observed as a phenomenon of light rather than as a fixed relief
The canvas adopts a very elongated format. The summit occupies the upper center, while the snow in the foreground opens a large clear area. On the left, a lower slope extends the massif; on the right, the outline descends quickly and narrows the view to the main wall.
Pink is not just for lit areas and blue for shadows. The two colors mingle in rock, trees and snow, with touches of gray green and lilac. This circulation prevents the planes from hardening and restores the cold air which envelops the pattern.
W1415 not only describes Kolsås under the snow: the canvas shows how the relief changes when pink light passes through the cold atmosphere.
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 last big reason for the Norwegian stay
Monet stayed in Norway from January to spring 1895 with his stepson Jacques Hoschedé. After the villages and houses of Sandvika, he returned insistently to Kolsås and painted a series of very close views, each set to a different lighting effect.
A version nicknamed the pink reflection
This canvas is often referred to by the pink shade which crosses the massif. The phenomenon is not treated as a halo added afterwards: it structures the volumes and is found even in the snow, between blue-gray and pale green passages.
A monumental landscape obtained without hard outline
The mountain fills almost the entire width, but its edge remains irregular and open. Short touches follow the slopes, then mingle with the line of the trees. The copy must retain this volume constructed by color without drawing a rigid geological silhouette.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The only official image available measures 850 × 545 px. It comes from the notice from the Musée d'Orsay and remains at its native definition, in real WebP, without artificial enlargement.
Large central mass above a silent foreground
The snow occupies a clear and not very detailed strip. This lower calm reinforces the scale of Kolsås and lets the composition breathe despite the proximity of the massif.
Cold pink, mist blue and gray green
The palette remains pale, but it is never uniform. Roses warm the rock, blues give depth, and gray greens connect the trees to the snowy slope.
A paste visible in the mountain, thinner in the sky
The oriented brush strokes shape the relief and catch the light. The sky is more diffuse, while the foreground retains fine horizontal streaks which stretch the snow.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
This information relates precisely to the painting from the Musée d'Orsay, inventory RF 1967 7 and Wildenstein 1415.
Orsay RF 1967 7, W1415
The oil on canvas dates from 1895 and measures 65.5 × 100.5 cm. The museum marks the "Claude Monet" stamp at the bottom right.
From Michel Monet to the national collections
The painting comes from the collection of Michel Monet, son of the artist. The National Museums acquired it in 1967 for the Jeu de Paume; it was assigned to the Musée d'Orsay in 1986.
The Kolsås taken under neighboring lights
Monet painted several versions of the massif during his 1895 campaign. The framing remained close, but the temperature of the sky, the intensity of the snow and the relationship between pink and blue changed from one canvas to another.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The Musée d'Orsay version RF 1967 7 and Wildenstein 1415
- The original panoramic format of 65.5 × 100.5 cm
- Cold pink diffused into the mountain without isolating it from the blues
- The snow in the foreground kept open and with little contrast
Work sheet
| Title | Mount Kolsås in Norway W1415 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1895 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 65.5 × 100.5 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France |
| Inventory | RF 1967 7 · Wildenstein 1415 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Powder pink, mist blue, sage green, mineral lilac and snow ivory make up a calm and luminous reproduction. Its width is suitable for a living room, bedroom or office, with light oak, natural linen and cream or warm gray walls.
