À propos de l’œuvre
Les Villas à Bordighera, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Bordighera · 1884 · W857
The Villas in Bordighera W857hand painted reproduction
In the Moreno garden, a light villa emerges behind palm trees, agaves and abundant massifs, in front of the blue mountains of the Riviera. This large decorative panel of 116.5 × 136.5 cm, signed and dated Claude Monet 84, is kept at the Musée d'Orsay under number RF 2000 94.
Look at the work
A Mediterranean garden almost completely invades the architecture
The villa occupies the right edge and is partially cut by the frame. In the center, a thin trunk rises in front of the mountains; palm fronds, agaves and bushes overlap their shapes up to the foreground.
The cream and pink facades are surrounded by bluish greens, yellows and mauves. The distant mountain remains colder and more flexible, which allows the dense garden to maintain depth despite the absence of a perspective path.
W857 is less of an architectural view than a decorative panel where the villa, exotic plants and mountain share the same colorful 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.
A painted panel in Giverny
Monet created this large format in his workshop from a smaller study painted on site. The change of scale allows him to broaden the pattern and transform the garden into a decorative composition.
A destination linked to Berthe Morisot
The panel was intended for the living room-workshop of Berthe Morisot, the first owner of the painting. He then passed to his daughter Julie Manet and remained with the family for a long time before entering the museum.
The Musée d'Orsay version, W857
The dimensions of 116.5 × 136.5 cm, the RF 2000 94 inventory and the Wildenstein 857 reference distinguish this large panel from the smaller versions of Chicago, Potsdam and Santa Barbara.
Reference image
Read this specific version
Only one reference image is used. The high definition scanning of the RF 2000 94 panel is converted into a true WebP of 3000 × 2555 px, without artificial enlargement.
An almost square format
The width remains close to the height, which concentrates the garden rather than stretching it. The vertical fins and the cut villa should balance the wide base of agaves and bushes.
Greens opposed to the roses of the villa
The foliage contains blue, yellow and purple; the walls mix cream, pink and mauve. This complementary opposition makes the architecture vibrate without separating it from the garden.
A touch that changes with the patterns
The agaves receive long, pointed lines, the bushes receive short touches and the walls receive more flat passages. Their diversity gives readability to deliberately abundant vegetation.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Musée d'Orsay preserves Les Villas à Bordighera, oil on canvas from 1884, 116.5 × 136.5 cm, inventory RF 2000 94 and Wildenstein 857.
Francesco Moreno's garden
Monet describes this garden as an earthly paradise. Palm trees, citrus fruits, agaves and ornamental plants offer it a density and light unknown in its landscapes of northern France.
A purplish pink signature
The museum notes the signature and date Claude Monet 84 at the bottom right. Their purplish pink color integrates them with the warm accents of the vegetation.
Preserved in French heritage
After its acquisition by the GAN group in 1992 and ten years of deposit, the work entered the Musée d'Orsay in 2000 with the assistance of the Heritage Fund and several patrons.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The large exact panel RF 2000 94, Wildenstein 857
- The original format of 116.5 × 136.5 cm
- The villa cut on the right behind the palm trees
- The agaves in the foreground and the mauve blue mountains
Work sheet
| Title | The Villas in Bordighera W857 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1884 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 116.5 × 136.5 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal almost square |
| Conservation | Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France |
| Inventory | RF 2000 94 · Wildenstein 857 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This generous composition is suitable for a large living room, dining room or hall. A warm white wall, brown wood and some terracotta or gray blue elements extend the Riviera without competing with the garden.
