Artwork
The Artist's Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias)
The Artist's Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias) is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Claude Monet. It dates from 1873 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: Claude Monet.73.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work presents a view of Claude Monet's garden at Argenteuil, focusing on a secluded corner where dahlias bloom beside a modest house and a solitary tree.
The work presents a view of Claude Monet's garden at Argenteuil, focusing on a secluded corner where dahlias bloom beside a modest house and a solitary tree. As a landscape painting from 1873, it exemplifies the Impressionist preoccupation with everyday domestic spaces and the transient effects of light across foliage. The inclusion of garden elements such as dahlias, a house, and a tree underscores a personal, leisurely setting that reflects the artist's intimate engagement with his immediate surroundings.
The painting's composition and subject matter convey a sense of quiet domestic tranquility, typical of Monet's garden scenes produced during this period.
Technique & Style
The Artist's Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias) is an oil painting on canvas dated 1873. Executed in oil paint, the work is classified as a landscape and portrays a garden corner that includes dahlias, a house, and a tree. The painting's support is canvas, and its creation follows Monet's practice of applying oil on canvas to achieve layered colour and atmospheric effect.
The work is part of the National Gallery of Art's collection. Its formal qualities are defined by the depiction of garden elements within a naturalistic composition typical of Impressionist landscape painting.
History & Provenance
Claude Monet painted The Artist's Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias) in 1873 as an oil on canvas. The provenance begins with the artist's sale in December 1873 to the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel in Paris. The work subsequently passed to the Baroux Collection before returning to Durand-Ruel in 1896.
Pierre Durand-Ruel acquired the painting in 1941 and held it until his death in 1961, after which it passed to his widow, who later became Mrs. David O. Selznick in New York. Sam Salz of New York handled the painting in 1965, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Konrad H. Matthaei around 1966. Richard L. Feigen & Co. of New York then brokered its 1970 sale to Mr. and Mrs. Philip J. Levin.
The Levins arranged a partial and promised gift to the National Gallery of Art in 1991, completed in 2001. The painting was featured in the exhibition 'Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting.'
Overview
The Artist's Garden in Argenteuil, also known as A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias, is an 1873 oil on canvas by Claude Monet. Executed during the artist's residence in Argenteuil, a period central to the development of Impressionism, the work depicts a vibrant section of the Monet family garden. The composition focuses on a dense cluster of dahlias in the foreground, rendered with loose, visible brushstrokes that capture the fleeting effects of light and the texture of the petals.
Behind the flowers, a large tree trunk anchors the left side of the canvas, leading the eye toward a glimpse of the house and a blue sky in the background. Monet employs a high-key palette dominated by greens, reds, and blues to convey the vitality of the summer scene. This painting exemplifies the Impressionist shift away from academic studio painting toward direct observation of nature.
It reflects Monet's interest in capturing the immediate visual experience of a specific moment, prioritizing atmospheric conditions and color relationships over precise linear definition. The work stands as a significant example of his garden series from the early 1870s, illustrating his mastery in translating the sensory experience of a domestic landscape into paint.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Oscar-Claude Monet was a French painter and founder of Impressionism who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it.
