Advanced Search ![Morning on the Seine, near Giverny](/internal/media/dispatcher/1641266/preview;jsessionid=EC9AED2817075316C4E402E6E7E2C2AD)
Morning on the Seine, near Giverny
Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
1897
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
81.3 x 92.7 cm (32 x 36 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Walter Scott Fitz
Accession Number11.1261
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Monet traveled as far north as Norway and as far south as Venice to look for different motifs, but he always returned to the places he knew best. He painted the river Seine in Paris, Argenteuil, Vétheuil, and where it emptied into the English Channel. He turned to it again in 1896 and 1897 for his series of canvases showing how it looked at dawn. This version is notable for its softness. Its colors of pinkish mauve, cool blues, and greens are matched with large, simple, and rounded shapes. With the point of view suspended over the water, we are made to feel weightless, perhaps even bodiless. Almost symmetrical reflections threaten to disorient us, but Monet has left enough clues to let us know which way is up.
InscriptionsLower left: Claude Monet 97
ProvenanceJune 18, 1909, sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris (stock no. 9102) [see note 1]; 1909, from Durand-Ruel, Paris to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock no. 3328); October 22, 1909, sold by Durand-Ruel, New York to James Viles, Chicago; March 1, 1911, sold by Viles to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock no. 3418); March 7, 1911, sold by Durand-Ruel to Mrs. Walter Scott Fitz (Henrietta Goddard Wigglesworth) (b. 1847 - d. 1927), Boston; 1911, gift of Mrs. Walter Scott Fitz to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 6, 1911)
NOTES:
[1] The provenance information was provided in a letter from Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris, to the MFA (April 18, 1962; in MFA curatorial file).
NOTES:
[1] The provenance information was provided in a letter from Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris, to the MFA (April 18, 1962; in MFA curatorial file).