À propos de l’œuvre
Portrait de Poly, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Belle-Île · 1886 · W1122
Portrait of Poly W1122hand painted reproduction
Poly, fisherman and porter of Monet in Belle-Île, stands three-quarters tall in a large black hat and a blue-green sweater. His face, reddened by the outdoors, emerges from a dark beard, with a direct gaze but without worldly pose. Painted in 1886, this oil on canvas measuring 74 × 53 cm is kept at the Marmottan Monet museum under number 5023 and corresponds to Wildenstein 1122.
Look at the work
A fisherman from Belle-Île paints with the frankness of a live study
The silhouette fills the height of the canvas. The bust turns slightly, while the face returns to the viewer. The hat and beard form a dark mass around the eyes and illuminated cheekbones.
The jacket and sweater combine blue, green, purple and black in thick touches. The beige and gray background remains very free, without decoration. This neutrality focuses all attention on the physical presence of the model.
Monet paints Poly as he paints a rock of Belle-Île: in masses, temperatures and visible brushstrokes, but here the material serves an intensely human resemblance.
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 look taken between reserve and assurance
The eyes return to the viewer while the body remains sideways. This dissociation avoids official frontality and preserves the spontaneity of the session.
Clothes built by color
Blues, greens and purples shape the sweater without any apparent prior design. The folds are born from changes in value and direction of the brush.
A background left voluntarily open
The clear passages around the hat and shoulders do not describe any interior. They isolate the model while keeping the speed of execution visible.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The only reference image comes from the Marmottan Monet Museum collection file. It was encoded as a real WebP of 1,500 × 2,074 px, without artificial enlargement.
Keep the big black hat
Its width and position structure the top of the portrait and reinforce the maritime identity of the model.
Preserve facial reds
The cheekbones and nose should keep their warm accents in the middle of the dark beard and cold background.
Keep the blue green sweater very textured
Its visible touches give the bust its weight and should not be smoothed into uniform clothing.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Marmottan Monet Museum documents Portrait of Poly, oil on canvas from 1886, 74 × 53 cm, inventory 5023 and catalog Wildenstein 1122.
Hippolyte Guillaume, nicknamed Poly
A lobster fisherman in Belle-Île, he helped Monet transport his equipment to the coast and also worked for the Australian painter John Peter Russell.
A portrait painted during a rainy day
On November 17, 1886, prevented from going out to work in front of the sea, Monet had Poly pose and described a very similar study to Alice Hoschedé.
A painting kept by Monet in Giverny
The painter does not sell this portrait and keeps it in his studio. He then entered the Marmottan Monet museum with the ensemble transmitted by Michel Monet.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The Wildenstein 1122 version
- Hippolyte Guillaume known as Poly
- The black hat and the beard
- The blue green sweater painted in touches
Work sheet
| Title | Portrait of Poly W1122 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1886 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 74 × 53 cm |
| Orientation | Vertical |
| Conservation | Marmottan Monet Museum, Paris, France |
| Inventory | 5023 · Wildenstein 1122 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This vertical portrait is suitable for a bookcase, office or entrance. A warm gray, deep blue or terracotta wall and a dark frame emphasize its intensity.
