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Cap Martin, near Menton
Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
1884
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
67.2 x 81.6 cm (26 7/16 x 32 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection
Accession Number25.128
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
This picture belongs to a group Monet painted on the French Riviera in April 1884. We stand on the eastern side of the cape, looking across the bay towards the Maritime Alps. Monet was drawn back to the Mediterranean coast, which he had visited with Renoir the previous December, for the intensity of its light. To suggest the sky’s airy expanse, he left much of the upper portion in reserve, indicating the contours of cloud and mountain with a few sketchy strokes.
InscriptionsLower right: Claude Monet 84
ProvenanceMay 1884, possibly sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris; September 1886, possibly sent by Durand-Ruel to the American Art Association, New York [see note 1]. By 1891, acquired, probably from the American Art Association, by James F. Sutton (b. 1849 - d. 1915), New York [see note 2]; 1915, by inheritance to his widow, Florence Macy Sutton (b. about 1853), New York; January 17, 1917, Sutton sale, American Art Association, New York, lot 144, to Durand-Ruel, New York; 1917, sold by Durand-Ruel to Robert J. Edwards (d. 1924), Hannah Marcy Edwards (d. 1929), and Grace Edwards (d. 1938), Boston; 1925, bequest and gift of the Edwards to the MFA [see note 3]. (Accession Date: April 2, 1925)
NOTES:
[1] See Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue Raisonné (1996), vol. 2: 335-336, no. 897.
[2] James Sutton was one of the founding members of the American Art Association in New York. He certainly owned the painting by 1891, when he lent it to an exhibition at the Union Club, New York (Feb. 12-14, 1891).
[3] Durand-Ruel sold this painting to "the Misses Edwards" in 1917 (letter from Herbert Elfers, Durand-Ruel, to Charles C. Cunningham, MFA, August 22, 1939). It was subsequently lent to the MFA under the name of Robert Edwards. Siblings Robert (d. 1924), Hannah (d. 1929), and Grace (d. 1938) Edwards were each collectors of art, who seemed to have had joint ownership of the objects in their possession. When Robert died, he bequeathed his collection to the MFA in memory of their mother, Juliana Cheney Edwards. In 1925, after his death, part of his collection was acquired by the Museum, and the remainder went to his sisters, with the understanding that the objects would ultimately be left to the MFA in the collection begun in memory of their mother. The collections of Hannah and Grace were left to the MFA in 1939, following Grace's death. It is not always possible to determine exactly which paintings each sibling had owned.
NOTES:
[1] See Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue Raisonné (1996), vol. 2: 335-336, no. 897.
[2] James Sutton was one of the founding members of the American Art Association in New York. He certainly owned the painting by 1891, when he lent it to an exhibition at the Union Club, New York (Feb. 12-14, 1891).
[3] Durand-Ruel sold this painting to "the Misses Edwards" in 1917 (letter from Herbert Elfers, Durand-Ruel, to Charles C. Cunningham, MFA, August 22, 1939). It was subsequently lent to the MFA under the name of Robert Edwards. Siblings Robert (d. 1924), Hannah (d. 1929), and Grace (d. 1938) Edwards were each collectors of art, who seemed to have had joint ownership of the objects in their possession. When Robert died, he bequeathed his collection to the MFA in memory of their mother, Juliana Cheney Edwards. In 1925, after his death, part of his collection was acquired by the Museum, and the remainder went to his sisters, with the understanding that the objects would ultimately be left to the MFA in the collection begun in memory of their mother. The collections of Hannah and Grace were left to the MFA in 1939, following Grace's death. It is not always possible to determine exactly which paintings each sibling had owned.