À propos de l’œuvre
Les poulpes sur la rive de l'épte, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1891 · Poplar Series · W1298
Poplars on the bank of the Epte W1298hand painted reproduction
A row of poplars rises in a milky blue sky, then repeats in Epte under the dark strip of the shore. Painted in 1891, this 100.3 × 65.2 cm vertical oil on canvas is kept at the Philadelphia Museum of Art under number 1954-66-8 and corresponds to Wildenstein 1298.
Look at the work
The bank separates two vertical rhythms
The trees tighten to the right and leave more sky to the left. Their tops remain visible, unlike several more radically cut versions of the series. Very low, the bank forms a dark line which stops the trunks before their reflections begin again in the water.
The foliage combines soft green, yellow, pink and orange on a gray blue background. The barrels change from ocher to purple and some are covered with blue-green ivy. In the river, the same tones fragment into more vertical and more melted touches.
W1298 builds its balance between poplar momentum, the horizontal bar of the shore and the unstable recovery of trees in the water.
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.
A progression from left to right
The smallest and lightest trees appear on the left; taller, darker trunks focus to the right. This progression gives movement to the row without a drawn perspective.
The decisive role of the shore
The strip of dark earth is narrow but essential. It separates the real world from its reflection, anchors the trunks and intensifies the yellows and roses placed just above.
A precise version of the series
Number 1954-66-8 and reference W1298 identify the vertical canvas of Philadelphia. They avoid confusing it with The Three Trees of Tokyo, The Four Trees of the Met or the wind-tilted poplars of the Musée d'Orsay.
Reference image
Read this specific version
Only one image is used: a high-resolution photograph of version 1954-66-8, converted to a true 2000 × 3000 px WebP from a 3456 × 5184 px source, without artificial enlargement.
A height distributed in a fan
The peaks form an upward slope and the trunks are neither parallel nor evenly spaced. Maintaining these gaps gives the alignment its natural character.
Autumn colors in a blue air
Yellows and pinks are mixed with gray greens and blues. They should remain bright without becoming saturated, as the fresh air unifies the entire scene.
Two materials for the same pattern
Above the bank, the trunks are firmer and the foliage more punctuated. In the water, the shapes lengthen and blur; this difference makes the reflection credible.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Philadelphia Museum of Art documents Poplars on the Bank of the Epte River, oil on canvas 1891, inventory 1954-66-8.
The Poplars of 1891
Monet painted more than twenty views of the Epte trees during the summer and autumn of 1891. The variations relate to light, season, number of trunks and their cutting in the frame.
A work linked to Durand-Ruel
The painting belongs to the history of the Durand-Ruel gallery, which plays a decisive role in the presentation and distribution of Monet's impressionist series.
Legacy Anne Thomson
The work entered the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1954 by the bequest of Anne Thomson, in memory of her father Frank Thomson and her mother Mary Elizabeth Clarke Thomson.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version 1954-66-8, Wildenstein 1298
- The original vertical format of 100.3 × 65.2 cm
- The gradual rise of the peaks towards the right
- The difference in touch between trees and their reflections
Work sheet
| Title | Poplars on the bank of the Epte W1298 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1891 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 100.3 × 65.2 cm |
| Orientation | Vertical |
| Conservation | Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, United States |
| Inventory | 1954-66-8 · Wildenstein 1298 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Its vertical format is suitable for a narrow section of wall, an entrance or a reading corner. Gray blue, light wood and some old pink accents accompany the foliage; soft side light reveals the depth of the keys.
