Claude Monet | Autograph letter signed, to his wife Alice, on painting Waterloo Bridge, 26 February 1900
Claude Monet
Autograph letter signed, to his wife Alice
ON HIS PAINTINGS OF WATERLOO BRIDGE AND THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING, and his social life in London, describing a "très chic" dinner also attended by future French President Georges Clemenceau and future British Prime Minister H.H. Asquith ("...Sargent had been invited, but could not come, or did not want to because of Clemenceau, it seems, because in the past he wanted to do his portrait and missed it completely..." [trans.]), and continuing with his plans for painting his ever-changing view of the Thames ("...Alas the fog won't lift and I'm afraid I'll lose my morning…But there he is, showing his face the sun..." [trans.]), 8 pages, 8vo, Savoy Hotel headed stationery, 26 February 1900, later marks in red ink
"...Early this morning there was an extraordinary fog, completely yellow; I think I did not too bad an impression of it; it’s always beautiful, in fact, but so very variable that I’ve had to start a lot of canvases of Waterloo Bridge and the Houses of Parliament..." [trans.]
Monet's great series of London paintings - those of Waterloo Bridge, of the Houses of Parliament, and of Charing Cross Bridge - were painted from his room at the Savoy on repeated trips to London at the turn of the century. His son, Michel, was studying in the city at the time - this letter includes news of him - and Monet's fame ensured that he moved in exclusive circles whilst in London. He reassures his wife that Georges Clemenceau, at that time a radical journalist, had not led him into "bad company" but to a dinner attended by a number of prominent politicians one of whom, the prominent Liberal H.H. Asquith, had promised to get him permission to paint the Tower of London. Monet's social engagements had not prevented him from rising at dawn to paint the play of light on the London fog.
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Claude Monet
Autograph letter signed, to his wife Alice
ON HIS PAINTINGS OF WATERLOO BRIDGE AND THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING, and his social life in London, describing a "très chic" dinner also attended by future French President Georges Clemenceau and future British Prime Minister H.H. Asquith ("...Sargent had been invited, but could not come, or did not want to because of Clemenceau, it seems, because in the past he wanted to do his portrait and missed it completely..." [trans.]), and continuing with his plans for painting his ever-changing view of the Thames ("...Alas the fog won't lift and I'm afraid I'll lose my morning…But there he is, showing his face the sun..." [trans.]), 8 pages, 8vo, Savoy Hotel headed stationery, 26 February 1900, later marks in red ink
"...Early this morning there was an extraordinary fog, completely yellow; I think I did not too bad an impression of it; it’s always beautiful, in fact, but so very variable that I’ve had to start a lot of canvases of Waterloo Bridge and the Houses of Parliament..." [trans.]
Monet's great series of London paintings - those of Waterloo Bridge, of the Houses of Parliament, and of Charing Cross Bridge - were painted from his room at the Savoy on repeated trips to London at the turn of the century. His son, Michel, was studying in the city at the time - this letter includes news of him - and Monet's fame ensured that he moved in exclusive circles whilst in London. He reassures his wife that Georges Clemenceau, at that time a radical journalist, had not led him into "bad company" but to a dinner attended by a number of prominent politicians one of whom, the prominent Liberal H.H. Asquith, had promised to get him permission to paint the Tower of London. Monet's social engagements had not prevented him from rising at dawn to paint the play of light on the London fog.
Condition Report:
Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
