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Valley of the Petite Creuse
Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
1889
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
65.4 x 81.3 cm (25 3/4 x 32 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of David P. Kimball in memory of his wife Clara Bertram Kimball
Accession Number23.541
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CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
The striking effects of Monet's several paintings of the Creuse Valley in central France are achieved through complex, superimposed layers of color, as he combined bold brushstrokes with intricate passages made up of many small touches. Delayed by bad weather while painting his Creuse scenes, Monet hired workmen to strip the newly budded leaves from a tree in the valley so that he would not have to change his composition.
InscriptionsLower left: Claude Monet 89
ProvenanceOctober 31, 1890, sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris (stock no. 711) [see note 1]; from Durand-Ruel, Paris to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock no. 776); April 9, 1891, sold by Durand-Ruel, New York to J. Eastman Chase Gallery, Boston, for Clara Bertram Kimball (b. 1838 - d. 1920), Boston; by inheritance to her husband, David P. Kimball (b. 1833 - d. 1923); 1923, bequest of David P. Kimball to the MFA [see note 2]. (Accession Date: November 1, 1923)
NOTES:
[1] The provenance given here (through 1891) is taken from a letter from Durand-Ruel, Paris to the MFA (April 18, 1962; in MFA curatorial file). [2] In 1923 David P. Kimball bequeathed forty paintings to the MFA in memory of his wife, Clara Bertram Kimball. He noted in his will that these were "from the collection made by her and bequeathed to me."
NOTES:
[1] The provenance given here (through 1891) is taken from a letter from Durand-Ruel, Paris to the MFA (April 18, 1962; in MFA curatorial file). [2] In 1923 David P. Kimball bequeathed forty paintings to the MFA in memory of his wife, Clara Bertram Kimball. He noted in his will that these were "from the collection made by her and bequeathed to me."