“The Basin at Argenteuil” by Claude Monet

“The Basin at Argenteuil” by Claude Monet was painted during the period when he lived in Argenteuil, from December 1871 until 1878. Monet painted outdoors, and he would set up his easel out in the countryside or his garden. He would then carefully reworked the details of his canvases in his studio.

In his painting with the light and vivid colours, Monet shows his mastery of the technique of fragmented brush strokes to produce an interplay of luminous vibration. The left of the painting is dominated by the shadows of the trees planted along the Argenteuil promenade, but the significant part of the picture is given over to clouds moving across the blue sky.

This painting represents the start of a productive series of works while he stayed at Argenteuil, as Impressionism reached its peak during the Argenteuil period. Monet wrote later in life:

“My only merit lies in having painted directly in front of nature, seeking to render my impressions before the most fleeting moments.”

This painting is one of over seventy works Monet painted of the Seine River in Argenteuil. It combines favourite themes of leisurely figures strolling, boating and bathing together with backdrops of bridges and landscape features.

Oscar-Claude Monet

Oscar-Claude Monet was a founder of French Impressionist painting, and the term “Impressionism” is derived from the title of his painting Impression, “soleil levant” or “Impression, Sunrise”, which was exhibited in 1874. Monet adopted a method of painting in which he painted the same scene many times to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons. Monet is known for having produced a series of paintings all versions of the same subject and perspective. Examples include his series of the “Valley of the Creuse” series and his famous series of “Haystacks” and “Water Lilies” paintings.

From 1883 Monet lived in Giverny, where at his home, he developed a garden landscape which included the lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best-known works. In 1899 he began painting the water lilies, first with a Japanese bridge as a central feature, and later in the series of large-scale paintings, with the water lilies as the main feature. This series occupied him for the last 20 years of his life.

Explore Monet

Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond
Farmyard in Normandy
The Basin at Argenteuil
A Cart on the Snowy Road at Honfleur
Water Lilies, (National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo)
Camille Monet on a Bench
The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog) – (MET)
“Houses of Parliament, London” (Art Institute of Chicago)
“The Houses of Parliament, Sunset” (National Gallery of Art, DC)
“London, Houses of Parliament. The Sun Shining through the Fog” (Musée d’Orsay)
“Seagulls, the River Thames and the Houses of Parliament” (Pushkin Museum)

The Basin at Argenteuil (Le bassin d’Argenteuil)

Title: The Basin at Argenteuil (Le bassin d’Argenteuil)
Artist: Claude Monet
Year: 1872
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 60 × 80.5 cm (23.6 × 31.7 in)
Museum: Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Claude Monet

Name: Oscar-Claude Monet
Born: 1840 – Paris, France
Died: 1926 (aged 86) – Giverny, France
Nationality: French
Movement: Impressionism
Notable works:
- Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond
- Farmyard in Normandy
- The Basin at Argenteuil
- A Cart on the Snowy Road at Honfleur
- Water Lilies, (National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo)
- Camille Monet on a Bench
- The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog) – (MET)
- “Houses of Parliament, London” (Art Institute of Chicago)
- “The Houses of Parliament, Sunset” (National Gallery of Art, DC)
- “London, Houses of Parliament. The Sun Shining through the Fog” (Musée d’Orsay)
- “Seagulls, the River Thames and the Houses of Parliament” (Pushkin Museum)

Reflections

Monet lived and painted in Argenteuil, in the 1870s. This is my favourite from his early Monet period.

Explore the Masterpieces of the Musée d’Orsay

“The Starry Night Over the Rhône” by Vincent van Gogh
“A Cart on the Snowy Road at Honfleur” by Claude Monet
“The Basin at Argenteuil” by Claude Monet
“Farmyard in Normandy” by Claude Monet
“Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
“Olympia” by Édouard Manet
“Whistler’s Mother” by James McNeill Whistler
“The Quai Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame” by Maximilien Luce
The Balcony by Édouard Manet
Country Dance by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Cock Fight by Jean-Léon Gérôme
“London, Houses of Parliament. The Sun Shining through the Fog” by Claude Monet
“La Gare Saint-Lazare” by Claude Monet
Masterpieces of the Musée d’Orsay

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“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand
as if it were necessary to understand when it is simply necessary to love.”
– Claude Monet