À propos de l’œuvre
Le chemin à travers les iris, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1914 -1917 · The Met 2001.202.6 · W1828
The Path among the irises, Met W1828hand painted reproduction
Monet looks almost vertically at a path in his garden in Giverny. Two masses of irises line the passage: on the left, green leaves and pink flowers wind deep; on the right, the orange-yellow path rises to the top of the canvas. The large format and the free touch give the floral pattern a monumental breadth.
Look at the work
The yellow path splits moving vegetation and leads the eye towards the bottom of the garden
The left part brings together dense vegetation. The leaves bend, cross and seem to overflow onto each other. Pink and purple flowers appear in spaced touches; they do not organize a bouquet, but give luminous markers in the green mass.
To the right, the ocher of the path forms a wide and unstable diagonal. Greens and blues cross it, as if plants and shadows invade the passage. The bird's eye view removes the horizon and transforms the ground into a continuous colored field.
Monet does not describe every iris: he paints the collective energy of leaves, flowers and the path in changing light.
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.
Perspective from above
The viewer does not face the garden; he seems to lean over the path. This position brings the plans together and allows plant forms to fill almost the entire surface, without sky or architecture to contain them.
A clear diagonal as a spine
The path starts near the bottom, widens in the center then goes up to the right. It organizes the profusion of leaves and prevents the composition from becoming uniform. However, its edges remain permeable and mix with plants.
A late, ample and nervous material
The gestures are broader than in the landscapes of the 1870s. Certain areas reveal the repetitions and superpositions. Faithful reproduction must retain this energy, without smoothing the surface or isolating each flower with an outline.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's only reference image measures 3,324 × 3,689 px. It was encoded as a real WebP at its native definition, without artificial enlargement.
Plant masses rather than botanical details
The irises are recognizable by their long leaves and a few corollas, but the whole is constructed like a succession of curved rhythms. The shapes fit together and give the garden an almost tactile density.
Ocher yellow versus green and blue
The trail has the warmest colors. Opposite, the foliage mixes olive green, turquoise and deep blue. Roses and mauves serve as transitions and prevent the hot-cold opposition from becoming too simple.
Very visible brush directions
The sheets follow oblique or curved gestures, while the path receives wider touches in the direction of depth. These orientations must remain readable: they are the main driving force of the movement.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
These landmarks concern the large canvas of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inventory 2001.202.6 and Wildenstein 1828.
The Met 2001.202.6, Wildenstein 1828
This oil on canvas from 1914 -1917 measures 200.3 × 180 cm. Its monumental dimensions distinguish this version from the smaller garden studies previously carried out in Giverny.
A late work painted during the First World War
Monet intensely took up the motifs of his garden from 1914. In this period, color often moved away from naturalistic observation and the touch became broader, linked to his major decorative projects.
Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection
The painting belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art thanks to the collection of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg. Its issue 2001.202.6 precisely identifies this painting within the legacy presented by the museum.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The monumental version of the Met, 2001.202.6 and Wildenstein 1828
- The original ratio of 200.3 × 180 cm
- The warm diagonal of the path maintained in the middle of the plant masses
- The curved and visible gestures of the preserved leaves without smoothing
Work sheet
| Title | The Path among the irises, Met W1828 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1914 - 1917 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 200.3 × 180 cm |
| Orientation | Vertical |
| Conservation | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States |
| Inventory | 2001.202.6 · Wildenstein 1828 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Olive green, deep blue, ocher yellow, pink and mauve give this hand-painted reproduction a strong presence. The vertical format is suitable for a high, open wall, where the composition can be viewed from several distances like a real garden sign.
