À propos de l’œuvre
La vallée de la Creuse, soleil couchant, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Fresselines · 1889 · W1226
The Creuse Valley, setting sun W1226hand painted reproduction
An orange and pink sky sets the red slopes of the Creuse ablaze, then fragments into light reflections on the deep river. Painted in Fresselines in 1889, this oil on canvas measuring 73 × 70.5 cm is kept at the Unterlinden museum in Colmar and corresponds to Wildenstein 1226.
Look at the work
The sunset transforms the valley into a colorful inferno
Two rock masses close the foreground and let the river enter from the bottom right. The central slope rises to an irregular ridge; only a strip of sky is enough to set the time.
Red, wine lees, purple and dark green build the slopes. The sky combines pink, yellow and orange, taken up in the water by long horizontal touches. The contrasts are more vivid than in the gray or twilight versions of the series.
In W1226, the sun remains out of scope: its colors reach the sky, the ridges and the river until the entire ravine vibrates.
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 almost square format
The proportions of 73 × 70.5 cm tighten the valley and amplify the rise of the slopes. The river forms a vertical opening in this mass.
Color before outline
The mountains are not surrounded. Red, purple, green and colored black interpenetrate, which has led some specialists to compare this canvas to Fauvism and Expressionism.
The sky deliberately reduced
Monet focuses his gaze on the earth and water. The thin light strip is enough to explain the reflections without reducing the weight of the landscape.
Reference image
Read this specific version
Only one exact image of W1226 is used. The WebP of 1,860 × 1,926 px comes from the official visual of the Unterlinden Museum, cropped on the canvas to remove the frame and stray reflections.
Preserve the deep reds of the slopes
They must remain distinct from purples and greens. A uniform brown tint would remove the singular intensity of this version.
Keep water in horizontal keys
Pink, light blue and purple follow one another without complete fusion. This rhythm makes the river sparkle and opposes it to the oblique gestures of the slopes.
Keep the strip of sky narrow
It illuminates the composition without becoming its main subject. Enlargeing it would modify the compact framing chosen by Monet.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Unterlinden Museum documents The Creuse Valley, setting sun, oil on canvas from 1889, 73 × 70.5 cm, acquired in 1975 and listed as Wildenstein 1226.
Nine variations of the same landscape depending on the museum
Between March and May 1889, Monet painted a series of views of the valley around Fresselines, looking for transformations of light on a stable pattern.
Entrance to the Unterlinden Museum in 1975
The purchase of this painting gives the Colmar collection a major work of Monet's first serial approach in the Creuse.
A palette that announces the 20th century
The museum notice emphasizes that the vigor of reds, purples and greens has given rise to connections with Fauvism and expressionism.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The Wildenstein 1226 version
- The almost square format of 73 × 70.5 cm
- The red ridge under the orange sky
- Pink and blue reflections in the Creuse
Work sheet
| Title | The Creuse Valley, setting sun W1226 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1889 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 73 × 70.5 cm |
| Orientation | Almost square |
| Conservation | Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, France |
| Inventory | 88.RP.371 · Wildenstein 1226 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This intense canvas is suitable for a living room, dining room or office. A pale terracotta wall, grayed plum or dark green and a brown frame highlight its colorful fire.
