Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son

Executed in oil on canvas, the work reflects Monet's Impressionist approach. The painterly handling employs rapid, broken brushstrokes to capture the shifting effects of natural light and atmosphere. A contre-jour composition places the figures against the sun, generating strong shadows and a luminous sky that emphasizes the moment's transience.

The support is a standard-sized canvas (100 × 82 cm), and the materials align with Monet's outdoor practice. No condition details are provided in the sources; the painting's formal qualities, the strolling pose, the parasol, and the interplay of light and shadow, typify Impressionist genre scenes.

Claude Monet painted Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son in 1886, according to the corpus date and Wikidata inception. However, its provenance indicates it left the artist by 1876, entering the collection of Dr. Georges de Bellio in Paris. After de Bellio's death in 1894, the work passed to his daughter Victorine and her husband Ernest Donop de Monchy, who retained it until at least 1897.

It may have subsequently been with Paul Rosenberg and Co. before being owned by Georges Menier by 1924; Menier lent the painting to an exhibition that year. In 1965, the Menier sale at Palais Galliera saw it auctioned, purchased by Hector Brame for Paul Mellon, who gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1983. Additionally, Wikidata records that the painting was exhibited at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876.

The painting is held at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it was accessioned in 1983 as a gift from Paul Mellon. Its exhibition history includes the Second Impressionist Exhibition (1876) and the Première exposition de collectionneurs au profit de la Société des Amis du Luxembourg, Paris (1924).

The painting was acquired by Dr. Georges de Bellio from the artist in 1876 and exhibited that year at the second Impressionist exhibition, a landmark event for the movement. As an Impressionist work, it captures a moment of modern life in a rural setting, emphasizing natural light and atmospheric effects. Its subject, the artist’s wife and son, typifies the movement’s turn to everyday subjects.

The painting’s early inclusion in de Bellio’s collection, a key supporter of the Impressionists, and its subsequent scholarly tracing in Remus Niculescu’s study of that collection, highlight its sustained art-historical significance.

Claude Monet's 1875 oil painting, "Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son," captures a fleeting moment with his wife, Camille, and their son, Jean. Executed outdoors in Argenteuil, this Impressionist work depicts the figures on a breezy summer day, suggesting a casual stroll. It exemplifies Monet's dedication to rendering light and atmosphere in everyday scenes, making it a significant piece within his oeuvre from this period.