À propos de l’œuvre
Le Moulin d'Orgemont, neige, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · The Argenteuil wine hillside under the frost · Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Vines under the snow, Orgemont mill W254hand painted reproduction
Rows of vines run along a hillside covered in light snow, up to the Orgemont mill which dominates the ridge. The gray sky, the red earth and the remains of vegetation mingle in a very restrained range. Monet does not seek an immaculate winter: he paints the agricultural soil, its furrows and its humidity at the moment when the white fragments.
Look at the work
The rows of vines raise your gaze to the mill almost absorbed by the sky
The foreground is crisscrossed with brown, gray and white lines which correspond to the vines, stakes and strips of land. They do not all converge towards the same point: their changes of direction follow the undulations of the hillside and give the terrain an irregular structure.
At the top, a few bare trees and the mill form a tiny silhouette. The whitewashed hill barely stands out from the gray-blue sky, as if the humidity united the air and the ground. Green and red touches at the bottom of the canvas remind us that the vine remains visible under the snow.
The winter landscape is less about whiteness than about the meeting of snow, earth and vines: each touch indicates a material that is changing.
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.
Cultivation lines to build depth
The rows of vines start from the lower edge and narrow as they climb. Their irregular rhythm replaces a drawn perspective and makes you feel the slope traveled to the ridge.
A cold palette crossed by warm lands
Bluish grays and whites dominate, but browns, ochres and some greens appear everywhere. These colors prevent snow from evenly covering the terrain.
Mill reduced to a sign on the horizon
Its wings and body are indicated with very little material. This small silhouette, however, is enough to give a name to the place and measure the extent of the hillside.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The visual corresponds to Vines under the snow, seen towards the Orgemont mill of 1873, preserved at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts under inventory 60.51 and cataloged Wildenstein 254. The file is a real WebP of 1,200 × 873 px.
The rows of vines must remain irregular
Their spacing, inclination and intensity change with the relief. Aligning them mechanically would cause the slope and truth of the agricultural land to be lost.
The snow reveals the earth
White combines with pink, brown, gray and green. Uniform coverage would remove the thawing state and the network of vines.
The sky and the ridge separate delicately
The profile of the hill is clear against a slightly bluer sky. The contrast should remain low to keep the atmosphere moist and quiet.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
Painted in 1873, this oil on canvas measures 58.4 × 81.3 cm. It is kept at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts under inventory 60.51 and listed as Wildenstein 254.
An Argenteuil vineyard before complete urbanization
The museum recalls that Argenteuil was then an agricultural commune in transformation, quickly connected to Paris by train. The vines belong to its local history, even if the industry and new visitors reach the banks of the Seine.
Fresh snow on vines still visible
Monet superimposes quick touches and cool gray tones to suggest snow, but retains the brown lines of the vineyard. The pattern therefore associates the winter countryside with precise observation of tillage.
A work by Durand-Ruel and Theo van Gogh
The VMFA notice follows the picture from Monet and Durand-Ruel, then indicates its purchase in 1888 for Boussod, Valadon & Cie, where Theo van Gogh worked. He entered the museum in 1960.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Maintain the irregular network of vine rows.
- Let the earth and plants pass through the snow.
- Keep the mill small but identifiable on the ridge.
- Keep the sky cold and low contrast.
Work sheet
| Title | Vines under the snow, Orgemont mill W254 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1873 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 58.4 × 81.3 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, United States |
| Inventory | 60.51 · Wildenstein 254 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This winter landscape is suitable for a quiet living room, bedroom or office. A light oak, stone gray or soft brown frame accompanies the furrows; an off-white, mist blue or taupe wall reveals shades of snow.
