National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

With Manet's assistance, Monet found lodging in suburban Argenteuil in late 1871, a move that initiated one of the most fertile phases of his career. Impressionism evolved in the late 1860s from a desire to create full–scale, multi–figure depictions of ordinary people in casual outdoor situations. At its purest, impressionism was attuned to landscape painting, a subject Monet favored. In Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son, his skill as a figure painter is equally evident. Contrary to the artificial conventions of academic portraiture, Monet delineated the features of his sitters as freely as their surroundings. The spontaneity and naturalness of the resulting image were praised when it appeared in the second impressionist exhibition in 1876.

Woman with a Parasol was painted outdoors, probably in a single session of several hours' duration. The artist intended the work to convey the feeling of a casual family outing rather than a formal portrait, and used pose and placement to suggest that his wife and son interrupted their stroll while he captured their likenesses. The brevity of the moment portrayed here is conveyed by a repertory of animated brushstrokes of vibrant color, hallmarks of the style Monet was instrumental in forming. Bright sunlight shines from behind Camille to whiten the top of her parasol and the flowing cloth at her back, while colored reflections from the wildflowers below touch her front with yellow.

Inscription

lower right: Claude Monet 75

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

From the artist in 1876 to Dr. Georges de Bellio [1828-1894], Paris; by inheritance to M and Mme [she née Victorine de Bellio, b. 1863] Ernest Donop de Monchy, Paris, until at least 1897.[1] Possibly (Paul Rosenberg and Co., London, New York, and Paris). Georges Menier, Paris, by 1924; [2] (Menier sale, Palais Galliera, Paris, 15 June 1965, no. 121); purchased by (Hector Brame, Paris) for Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift 1983 to NGA.

[2] (Menier sale, Palais Galliera, Paris, 15 June 1965, no. 121); purchased by (Hector Brame, Paris) for Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift 1983 to NGA. [1]Cited as no. 86 in unpublished inventory of the de Bellio collection by Remus Niculescu, "Georges de Bellio, l'Ami des Impressionists (I)," Paragone 247, September 1970. See also letter from Niculescu to Paul Mellon dated 12 April 1970, in NGA curatorial files. []2Lent by Menier to the Première exposition de collectionneurs au profit de la Société des Amis du Luxembourg, Paris, 1924.

Exhibition History

1876
Le 2e Exposition de Peinture [Second Impressionist Exhibition], Paris, 1876, no. 161 as Promenade
1924
Première exposition de collectionneurs au profit de la Société des Amis du Luxembourg, Paris, 1924, no. 166, repro.
1966
French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 85, repro
1986
Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1986-1987, no. 30, repro.
1986
Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist
1986
The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886, National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986, no. 32, repro.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 35, repro.
1992
From El Greco to Cezanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Greece, Athens, 1992-1993, no. 47, repro.
1995
Claude Monet: 1840-1926, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1995, no. 42, repro., as The Stroll, Camille Monet and Her Son Jean (Woman with a Parasol).
1996
Rings: Five Passions in World Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1996, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1999
An Enduring Legacy: Masterpieces from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999-2000, no cat.
1999
Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat. (returned early to NGA for inclusion in An Enduring Legacy exhibition).
1999
Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 42, repro.
2000
The Impressionists at Argenteuil, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 2000, no. 46, repro.
2006
Claude Monet - Fields in Spring, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 2006, no. 4, repro.
2006
Women in Impressionism: from Mythical Feminine to Modern Woman., Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 2006-2007, no. 64, repro.
2010
Claude Monet 1840-1926, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 2010-2011, no. 155, repro.
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 31, repro.

Bibliography

1966
Goldwater, Robert. "The Glory that was France." Art News 65 (March 1966):42, repro. cover.
1974
Wildenstein 1974, no. 381.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 483, no. 714, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 282, repro.
1986
Bernard, Bruce. The Impressionist Revolution. London, 1986:254, repro. 135
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 35, repro.
1991
Gingold, Diane J. and Elizabeth A.C. Weil. The Corporate Patron. New York, 1991: 31, color repro. (of poster).
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: x, 264, 266, 277, color repros.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 194, repro.
1997
Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism, 1997, no. 174, repro.
1998
Adler, Shane. “Whiteness." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:939.
1998
Pitman, Dianne W. Bazille: Purity, Pose, and Painting in the 1860s. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998: 207-210, repro. no. 132.
2000
The Impressionists at Argenteuil. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, 2000: no. 46.
2001
Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA II: Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, 2001: 24-25, color repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 382-383, no. 317, color repro.

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