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Lot Essay
In December 1883, Monet accompanied Renoir on an excursion to the Mediterranean. Monet became captivated by the North Italian landscape and wrote to Durand-Ruel of his intention to extend his stay and to paint alone. "As fun as it was to play tourist with Renoir, it would be a real hindrance to my work to take this trip with somebody else. . . If Renoir knows that I am about to set off there again, he will most likely wish to come with me, and this would be just as bad for him as it would be for me" (quoted in Joachim Pissarro, op. cit., exh. cat., p. 28).
On February 17, 1884, Monet joined two English comrades on an outing to the Valley of the Nervia, and discovered there Dolceacqua, a "little
town extraordinarily picturesque" (quoted in ibid., p. 36). He returned there two days later amidst a "frightening" wind, where he began two studies, which form part of the series of three paintings--the present work, The Dolecacqua Castle (Musée Marmottan, Paris), and Bridge at Dolceacqua (Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, Williamstown).
Joachim Pissarro writes, "After studying the seacoast and the crestline of the Alps, he turned his gaze inland, looking at Dolceacqua from the Nervia Valley and finally focusing closely on the 'two wonderful motifs' provided by the ruins of the medieval fortress of the Doria family, offset with the fragile, collarbone-like structure of the rib-vaulted bridge" (ibid., p. 96).
(fig. 1) Claude Monet in his studio with the present work.
On February 17, 1884, Monet joined two English comrades on an outing to the Valley of the Nervia, and discovered there Dolceacqua, a "little
town extraordinarily picturesque" (quoted in ibid., p. 36). He returned there two days later amidst a "frightening" wind, where he began two studies, which form part of the series of three paintings--the present work, The Dolecacqua Castle (Musée Marmottan, Paris), and Bridge at Dolceacqua (Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, Williamstown).
Joachim Pissarro writes, "After studying the seacoast and the crestline of the Alps, he turned his gaze inland, looking at Dolceacqua from the Nervia Valley and finally focusing closely on the 'two wonderful motifs' provided by the ruins of the medieval fortress of the Doria family, offset with the fragile, collarbone-like structure of the rib-vaulted bridge" (ibid., p. 96).
(fig. 1) Claude Monet in his studio with the present work.