À propos de l’œuvre
La Promenade dans les prairies à Argenteuil, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Camille and Jean in a flowery meadow in Argenteuil · RISD Museum
The Walk in the Prairies in Argenteuil W276hand painted reproduction
A child appears among the poppies in the foreground, while two figures advance near a tall poplar tree. A strip of yellow-green grass crosses the meadow diagonally and leads towards distant houses. Monet brings together in this 1873 scene the movement of a family walk, the diffused light of an overcast sky and the intensity of red flowers.
Look at the work
A diagonal of light connects poppies, walkers and the horizon
The right part is strewn with red touches which increase in size downwards. In the middle of this field appears Jean, barely more detailed than the flowers surrounding him. The yellow-green band starts from the foreground, goes around the gray meadow and directs the eye towards the figures placed near the poplar.
The main tree stands like a dark axis in the center right. Its almost black foliage contrasts with the whites and blues of the sky. Behind him, a few houses with red roofs and a line of trees are enough to locate the Argenteuil countryside without closing the space.
The walk is told by differences in scale: the child among the flowers, the adults in the middle of the meadow and the almost dissolved houses on the horizon.
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 yellow-green diagonal to open the field
The RISD Museum highlights this luminous trajectory in the grass. It separates two areas of meadow and gives a visual path to the walk without resorting to a clearly drawn road.
The red of poppies as a rhythm of depth
The keys are spaced in the distance and become wider in the foreground. This gradation builds space at the same time as it animates the gray and green surface of the meadow.
A sky painted by wide flexible passages
Grays, whites and blues mingle without hard contours. This covered atmosphere softens the landscape, but the small turquoise gaps prevent the sky from becoming uniform.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The visual corresponds to La Promenade dans les prairies in Argenteuil from 1873, kept at the RISD Museum under the 1998.107 inventory and cataloged Wildenstein 276. The file is a real WebP of 1,024 × 850 px, to its native definition.
Poplar retains its irregular verticality
Its silhouette is neither straight nor symmetrical. Greens, browns and a few sky breakthroughs shape the foliage without detailing each leaf.
The figures remain quick notations
Jean, Camille and the accompanying person are constructed with few touches. Specifying them excessively would break their integration into the field and the impression of a scene captured remotely.
Poppies vary in size and intensity
The nearby reds are frank, the distant ones smaller and sometimes orange. Their distribution must remain irregular in order to preserve the natural movement of the meadow.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
Painted in 1873, this oil on canvas measures 53.3 × 64.8 cm. It is kept at the RISD Museum under the 1998.107 inventory and listed as Wildenstein 276.
Camille and Jean in the meadow
The RISD Museum notice describes Monet's wife and son in the middle of a flowery field. Their small scale maintains the priority of the landscape while giving an intimate character to the walk.
Diffuse light from an overcast day
Monet uses broad touches in the sky and distance to suggest a slight optical blur. On the contrary, the poppies and the yellow band remain more intense, which advances the foreground.
Purchased in Monet by Durand-Ruel in 1873
The museum has followed the work since its purchase by the dealer in December 1873. Subsequently passed through several New York collections, it was donated to the RISD Museum by Houghton P. Metcalf, Jr.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Preserve the clear diagonal that crosses the meadow.
- Keep Jean and the walkers on their small scale.
- Vary the poppies from the distance to the foreground.
- Keep the sky overcast but bright.
Work sheet
| Title | The Walk in the Prairies in Argenteuil W276 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1873 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 53.3 × 64.8 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Inventory | 1998.107 · Wildenstein 276 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This meadow is suitable for a living room, bedroom or dining room. A light oak, dark green or off-white frame accompanies the landscape; a linen, bluish gray or powder pink wall reveals the poppies.
