À propos de l’œuvre
Portrait de Monsieur Coqueret (père, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Vétheuil · 1880 · W618
Portrait of Mr. Coqueret (father) W618hand painted reproduction
Narcisse Coqueret, compass manufacturer and one of Monet's first collectors, poses in a bust in front of a pearl gray background. His face turned three-quarters, his mustache clear and the scarf tied on the shirt are modeled by a visible touch which never seeks the photographic finish. Ordered in 1880, this oil on canvas then mounted on panel measures 52 × 40 cm; it is kept at the Barnes Foundation under the number BF725 and corresponds to Wildenstein 618.
Look at the work
A very constructed face emerges from a background deliberately left in the vibration of the touch
The model occupies almost the entire format. The shoulders cut by the edges form a wide base, while the slightly turned head avoids the frontality of an official portrait. The gaze moves out of the painting, to the right, and gives the face an attentive presence rather than a solemn pose.
Monet contrasts the warm browns of the jacket with the bluish whites of the scarf and the pinkish grays of the background. The eyebrows, mustache and hair are not drawn hair by hair: short touches, sometimes blue or mauve, circulate the light into the dark parts.
The portrait remains immediately recognizable, but its vitality comes above all from the way in which each color of the face responds to the background, the clothing and the 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.
An order linked to Monet's life in Vétheuil
Narcisse Coqueret owned a factory near the village where Monet lived from 1878 to 1881. An early collector of the painter's local landscapes, he commissioned this portrait from him in 1880.
A precise physiognomy without hard drawing
The direction of the eyes, the arch of the eyebrows and the mustache give expression. Monet constructs them with brief, colorful touches, then lets the cheeks and forehead gradually blend into the gray atmosphere.
A clear knot that organizes the entire bottom of the table
The blue, white and green scarf forms the main bright accent under the face. Its curls and sides lead the eye towards the brown jacket and reinforce the verticality of the format.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The single image exactly reproduces BF725. The available public file measures 788 × 1024 px; it is encoded as a real WebP at its native size, without artificial enlargement.
Preserve the rotation by three quarters
The nose, eyes and mustache should maintain their slight orientation to the right. Frontal symmetry would immediately change the calm and observant attitude of the model.
Keep the colored grays of the skin and background
The shadows are neither black nor uniform: they mix pink, blue, beige and mauve. This variety avoids the photographic effect and connects the face to the surrounding space.
Respect the free touch of the scarf
The textile appears complex thanks to some light impasto and blue lines. Too much detail would make it stiff; too little would remove the luminous balance of the composition.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Barnes Foundation documents Monsieur Coqueret (Father), oil on canvas from 1880 then mounted on panel, 52 × 40 cm, BF725 inventory and Wildenstein 618 catalog.
Narcisse Coqueret, compass manufacturer
His activity was located near Vétheuil. He was among Monet's first enthusiasts and notably purchased several landscapes in the region.
A portrait requested directly from Monet in 1880
The relationship between collector and artist is therefore not limited to the purchase of existing paintings. Coqueret also chose to entrust his own effigy to the painter.
Monet also painted Paul Coqueret
The model's son was the subject of another portrait, produced in 1881. The two works bear witness to a close link between the Coqueret family and Monet in Vétheuil.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The Wildenstein 618 version
- Looking to the right
- The light mustache built in small touches
- The blue and white scarf under the brown jacket
Work sheet
| Title | Portrait of Mr. Coqueret (father) W618 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1880 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 52 × 40 cm |
| Orientation | Vertical |
| Conservation | Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, United States |
| Inventory | BF725 · Wildenstein 618 |
| 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, desk or narrow wall near a console. A warm gray, mist blue or stone beige wall and a walnut frame highlight the colorful grays of the face without hardening the touch.
