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The Water Lily Pond
Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
1900
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
90.2 x 92.7 cm (35 1/2 x 36 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Given in memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation
Accession Number61.959
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In 1883, Monet settled in the village of Giverny, about forty miles from Paris, and purchased a house there in 1890. Shortly thereafter, he acquired an additional plot of land, where he constructed a picturesque water garden. A Japanese bridge spanned the pond at its narrowest point. This is among the first of Monet's paintings to emphasize the reflections of the bank and the sky on the flat surface of the water.
InscriptionsLower left: Claude Monet 1900
ProvenanceDecember 1900, sold by the artist by Léonce Rosenberg (b. 1877 - d. 1947), Paris [see note 1]. 1923, Léon Orosdi, Paris [see note 2]; May 25, 1923, posthumous Orosdi sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, lot 41, to Durand-Ruel, Paris (stock no. 12162); November 27, 1926, sold by Durand-Ruel to Alvan Tufts Fuller (b. 1878 - d. 1958), Boston [see note 3]; 1959, the Alvan T. Fuller Foundation, Inc., Boston; 1961, gift of the Alvan T. Fuller Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 20, 1961)
NOTES:
[1] See Daniel Wildenstein, "Monet: Catalogue Raisonné," vol. 4 (1996), p. 731, cat. no. 1630.
[2] According to a letter from Durand-Ruel, Paris, to the MFA (1962; in MFA curatorial file), Orosdi purchased almost all of his paintings from Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, although it cannot be confirmed that he acquired this painting from that gallery.
[3] Information about Durand-Ruel's transactions is taken from a letter from Durand-Ruel to the MFA (as above, n. 2). Durand-Ruel states that this painting was sold to Mr. Fuller on November 27, 1927; however, he first lent it to the MFA on January 7 of that year. It is possible that the year of the sale was written incorrectly in the letter.
NOTES:
[1] See Daniel Wildenstein, "Monet: Catalogue Raisonné," vol. 4 (1996), p. 731, cat. no. 1630.
[2] According to a letter from Durand-Ruel, Paris, to the MFA (1962; in MFA curatorial file), Orosdi purchased almost all of his paintings from Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, although it cannot be confirmed that he acquired this painting from that gallery.
[3] Information about Durand-Ruel's transactions is taken from a letter from Durand-Ruel to the MFA (as above, n. 2). Durand-Ruel states that this painting was sold to Mr. Fuller on November 27, 1927; however, he first lent it to the MFA on January 7 of that year. It is possible that the year of the sale was written incorrectly in the letter.