Blanche Hoshedé Monet
Estate of the Artist
by Descent through the family, Theodore Earl Butler
This painting by Blanche Hoschedé was done in Giverny. It reminds one of Claude
Monet’s famous painting of 1887: “En norvegienne, ou La barque à Giverny” that is
hanging in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, wherein Blanche, Suzanne and Germaine are in a
rowboat on the river in Giverny. Monet took this rowboat on many picnics and
excursions around the Epte River.
In this painting, this very same rowboat of Monet is resting on the left bank of the river,
almost as if the three sisters have just stepped off the boat for Blanche to set up her easel
to depict this view. The trees curve into the center from the left, creating a subdued yet
classically Impressionist scene. The frame of poplars in the distance is reflected in the
water. The water lilies are floating and glistening on the right side of the foreground. This
painting is a peaceful meditation on the trees, the water, and, most significantly, the water
lilies of Giverny.
Gift from Blanche Hoschedé Monet to her sister, Marthe Hoschedé Monet
Inscription:
On the Stretcher bar, inscribed with a pen:
“Bonne Fête ma Marthe Chérie. N’oublie pas ta sœur qui t’aime bien tendrement
Blanche
29 Juillet, 89 [1889]”
This work was painted in "The Clos Martin", a meadow west of Monet's House. A farmer named Quérel stored his grain stacks in this field. Here, Blanche Hoschedé-Monet captures the sunset effect in a view to the southwest toward the hills of Giverny which extend along the left bank. The light floods the scene and emanates from the painting. The interaction of light and color in the sky and the grain stack are creating a painting where the grain stack, the sky and the soil are producing Monet's Love Affair with Japanese Art a festival of orange, yellow, brown and of gold colors. Blanche is showing the golden light of late afternoon. The blue colors of the hills are creating a theatrical vision of a summer evening in Giverny. Giverny’s farms are appearing like in a stage for theater. The hills This Grain stack is also a symbol of rural traditions. The grain stack is formed when the grain had ripened and turned to gold.
During that time Blanche Hoschedé is completely under the influence of Claude Monet. She is not only using the same palette, the same colors, but she herself painted next to him. We are tempted to say that the student has reached the level of the master. Claude Monet’s art dealer Durand-Ruel purchased a Haystack by Blanche Hoschedé Monet which is presently hanging in Claude Monet’s house in Giverny.
Blanche Hoschedé Monet Grain Stacks could be compared to the painting done by Claude Monet in the summer of 1888 bearing the title: “Haystack at Giverny, the evening sun.”
Private collection France for the past 40 years.
Private collection France for the past 40 years.
Blanche Hoschedé Monet painted the House and Garden around 1910. Blanche Hoschedé Monet's painting, is a mirror image of the garden designed by Claude Monet. This painting can be compared to a later piece executed by Blanche. Out of all these paintings, this is the one where the daylight floods the floral garden and the House the most. Blanche Monet understood the magical ability of light and its effects on the garden. Blanche does not distance herself from her subject. Here as spectators, we are absorbed, attracted by the flowerbed designed by Claude Monet: a symphony of colors a vision of blue in agapanthus and golden sunflowers rising up on the left
Prêt musée Marmottan museum
