À propos de l’œuvre
La Neige à Argenteuil, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Boulevard Saint-Denis after the snow · National Museum of Western Art
Snow in Argenteuil W351hand painted reproduction
A snowy road describes a curve from the foreground to the Argenteuil buildings. In the center, a dark silhouette walks alone; behind her, the future station and the houses dissolve in a cold light. Monet captures the bright morning following a snowfall and contrasts the whiteness of the ground with the purple trees, the cream walls and the gray-brown traces.
Look at the work
The curve of the road leads from the silence of the snow towards the city
On the left, a curtain of trees rises almost to the upper edge. Their purple trunks and snow-laden branches frame a beige building. On the right, the more distant facades and a red building near the station gradually tighten the passage.
The road occupies the entire lower part. Its bluish whites are crossed by gray-brown furrows which follow the curve. The figure dressed in dark green provides the only clear human reference point and gives the scale of this still poorly constructed boulevard.
Snow simplifies the city, but traffic patterns and the solitary silhouette prevent the landscape from becoming still.
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 perspective guided by the roadway
The curve runs wide in the foreground then narrows towards the station. Houses and trees move closer around this line, creating depth without apparent geometric construction.
A white composed of many temperatures
The ground mixes cream, pale blue, lilac and gray-green. Darker spots mark the damp earth and passages, while the sky takes on the cold shades of snow.
The figure as a point of concentration
Isolated in the center of the road, it brings together the lines of flight. Its deep blue green contrasts with the light environment, but its small size retains the dominance of the atmosphere.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The image corresponds to inventory P.1959-0150 of the National Museum of Western Art, Wildenstein version 351. The museum provides a file of 1,500 × 1,273 px, kept at its native definition then encoded in WebP without oversampling.
Road tracks follow the depth
Their browns and grays should not form a continuous border. They appear in fragments and accompany the curve to the character.
The trees on the left remain translucent
Their purple mass contains clear intervals and touches of snow. A silhouette that is too compact would weigh down the entire left side.
The signature and date belong to the ground
The Claude Monet 75 inscription, lower right, blends into the gray-brown tones of the snow and should not become an independent decorative accent.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
Dated 1875, this 55.5 × 65 cm oil on canvas bears the signature Claude Monet 75. It is kept in Tokyo under the number P.1959-0150 and listed Wildenstein 351.
Boulevard Saint-Denis before its completion
The museum notice identifies the street being developed as well as the station. Monet therefore paints a winter landscape where nature and the urban transformation of Argenteuil coexist.
Clear morning after a snowfall
The museum distinguishes this scene from paintings showing large flakes. Here, Monet mainly observes the shades of shadow and the reflections produced by the light on the already snowy surface.
A work from the Matsukata collection
Kôjiro Matsukata acquired the painting in 1921. Returned to Japan as part of the post-war agreements, it entered the National Museum of Western Art in April 1959.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Respect the flexible curve of the boulevard.
- Keep the dark figure as the central pivot.
- Distinguish between fresh snow and gray-brown passages.
- Allowing the back buildings to dissolve into the atmosphere.
Work sheet
| Title | Snow in Argenteuil W351 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1875 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 55.5 × 65 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan |
| Inventory | P.1959-0150 · Wildenstein 351 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This calm and bright scene is suitable for a contemporary living room, office or bedroom. An ash oak, matte white or lilac gray frame accompanies the cold shadows and discreet warmth of the facades.
