Claude Monet, 'Lavacourt under Snow', about 1878-81
About the work
Overview
Snow scenes were a particular favourite among the Impressionists, and Monet painted several canvases that explore the way sunlight plays upon the snow, reflecting tones of red, pink, purple and blue at different times of day. He produced this scene of Lavacourt, a tiny hamlet on a bend in the Seine, when he was living in Vétheuil on the opposite side of the river.
The picture is dated 1881, but it may have been painted earlier, during the winter of 1879/80, which was unusually cold. The Seine froze over and Monet was captivated by the way the landscape was transformed by snow and ice, braving the freezing temperatures to set up his easel out of doors. The great bank of snow in the foreground is conveyed with broad sweeps of the brush, the whites overlain with blues. The cold tones suggest that this side of the river is in shadow, unlike the opposite side, where the pink tones suggests the warmth of pale sunlight.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Lavacourt under Snow
- Artist
- Claude Monet
- Artist dates
- 1840 - 1926
- Date made
- about 1878-81
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 59.7 × 80.6 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- Inventory number
- NG3262
- Location
- On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2026) (Group B), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 20th-century Replica Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, with additions and some revisions by Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, etc.’, London 1970 and supplemented by Isobel Muir; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2006Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2006 - 2013) (Group B)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane31 December 2006 - 1 January 2013
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2014Making ColourThe National Gallery (London)18 June 2014 - 7 September 2014
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2014Monet: The Water Garden at GivernyThe National Gallery (London)16 September 2014 - 31 December 2015
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2014Inventing Impressionism: Paul Durand-Ruel and the Modern Art MarketThe National Gallery (London)4 March 2015 - 31 May 2015Philadelphia Museum of Art24 June 2015 - 13 September 2015
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2018Claude Monet - Impression and EmotionAlbertina21 September 2018 - 6 January 2019
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2019Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2026) (Group B)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane20 October 2019 - 23 February 2026
Bibliography
-
1917C. Phillips, 'National Gallery, II: Sir Hugh Lane's Pictures', Daily Telegraph, 1917
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1917T. Martin Wood, 'Modern French Pictures at the National Gallery', The Studio, 1917
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1917D.S. McColl, 'The National Gallery Bill and Sir Hugh Lane's Bequest', Nineteenth Century, LXXXI, 1917, pp. 383-98
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1929M. de Fels, La vie de Monet, Paris 1929
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1932T. Bodkin, Hugh Lane and his Pictures, Dublin 1932
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1948O. Reuterswärd, Monet, Stockholm 1948
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1954D. Cooper, The Courtauld Collection: A Catalogue and Introduction, London 1954
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1970Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
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1974D. Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, 4 vols, Lausanne 1974
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1986J. House, Monet: Nature into Art, New Haven 1986
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1990B. Mayers, Methods of the Masters. Monet, London 1990
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1990K. Sagner-Düchting, Claude Monet 1840-1926. Ein Fest für die Augen, Cologne 1990
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1990D. Bomford, R. White and L. Williams, Impressionism (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 1990), London 1990
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1992V. Spate, The Colour of Time: Claude Monet, London 1992
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1993F. Owen, 'Introducing Impressionism. Frank Rutter, Lucien Pissarro and Friends', Apollo, 1993, pp. 212-6
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1993R. White and J. Pilc, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 86-94
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1994J. House, Impressionisim for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, London 1994
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1995K. McConkey and B. Dawson, Impressionism in Britain and Ireland, (exh. cat. Barbican Art Gallery, 19 January - 7 May 1995), London 1995
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1996D. Wildenstein, Claude Monet. Catalogue raisonné, Cologne 1996
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.