Cat. 20  Bordighera, 1884

Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago

Top area shows pale blue sky above a dark blue sea stretching across the width. From left to right in the foreground, tall trees with twisting gray‑brown trunks and dense green leaves fill most of the view, with openings that reveal a compact cluster of small tan and light pink buildings near the center. The bottom portion is covered with thick green shrubs and darker foliage; the buildings are smaller in scale than the trees and sit between the greenery and the water.

Cat. 20

Bordighera^[1]
1884
Oil on canvas; 64.8 × 81.3 cm (25 1/2 × 32 in.)
Signed and dated: Claude Monet 84 (lower left corner, in dark reddish-brown paint)
The Art Institute of Chicago, Potter Palmer Collection, 1922.426

Technical Report
Provenance
Exhibition History
Selected References
Other Documentation

Monet’s Bordighera Trio

Claude Monet was greatly impressed with the picturesque village of Bordighera, located on the Italian Riviera near the French border, when he toured the area with Pierre-Auguste Renoir in December 1883.^[2] Describing the town to his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, he called it “one of the most beautiful places” that they had visited, and he expressed his intention to return alone, in order “to bring back a series of new things.”^[3] A month later, Monet arrived in Bordighera, and from his base at the Pension Anglaise began to work intensely for what he initially estimated would be a period of three weeks but instead lasted for nearly three months.^[4] He would not return to France until mid-April 1884, but sent ahead the fruit of his labors: forty-five paintings, representing what the art historian Paul Tucker has estimated to be a painting every two days, and featuring a variety of views along the coast from Ventimigilia, Italy, to Monte Carlo and Menton, across the border in France.^[5]1

Three of these depict Bordighera’s old, upper quarter, the cittá alta, on the Cape of Sant’Ampelio (fig. 20.1), seen from the same angle but at different elevations, looking down at the seaside village below. Compositionally, the Art Institute’s version is the most radical of the three; the interlaced trunks of the pines create a decorative screen that nearly obfuscates the picturesque subject of the sun-soaked village against the blue sea that is also the focus of the other two versions. Perhaps for this reason, this canvas was the only one of the three that Durand-Ruel did not buy following the artist’s return from the south.^[6] Four years later, Monet showed the three Bordighera canvases in his one-man exhibition, along with other works from his trip to the Franco-Italian coast, at the Sixth International Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture held at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, in May–June 1887. The Chicago painting remained unsold until 1891, despite the praise it received from Monet’s future biographer, the art critic Gustave Geffroy, who called it an “extraordinary canvas, crammed with an eruption of unimaginable vegetation ablaze with light that bursts forth like the sudden appearance of the sun, making everything around it fade.”^[7]2

Top band shows a clear blue sky meeting a deep blue sea, with a small white boat near the horizon toward the right. Below, a hillside town stretches left to right with tightly packed buildings in beige, cream, and light pink, many with red-brown roofs; a tall light-colored tower rises on the upper left above the houses. Foreground is dense with dark green trees and palms, and on the lower right a large beige apartment building stands prominently above surrounding rooftops. No people are visible. — Fig. 20.1

Contemporary view of Bordighera looking to the sea with the *cittá alta* at left. © Xavier RICHER/Photononstop/Corbis.

The View from a Hill

Charles Stuckey credits the artist’s choice of a high vantage point and the arboreal framing device to the visit Monet made with Renoir to Paul Cézanne’s home at l’Estaque a few months prior; there he would have seen Cézanne’s views of this seaside village, made in series-like fashion, with a similar focus (fig. 20.2).^[8] But it is also clear from Monet’s letters home to his companion, Alice Hoschedé—complaining about the overly abundant foliage, which thrilled him even as it thwarted his attempts to isolate the appropriate motif—that his decision to position himself above the Mediterranean palms, pines, and olive trees was a necessary strategy.^[9]3

At the top, pale blue-gray sky meets a wide expanse of light blue water. Across the middle, a hillside cluster of small tan buildings with red-orange roofs slopes down toward the shore, with a tall, thin chimney near the left center. In the foreground, two large dark tree trunks stand on the left and right, their branches stretching across the upper area, with dense green shrubs and ground along the bottom. The trees appear much larger than the buildings, framing the town and water from left to right. — Fig. 20.2

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906). *The Sea at l’Estaque*, 1882–85. Oil on canvas; 73 × 92 cm (28 3/4 × 36 1/4 in.). Musée Picasso, Paris, RF 1973.99. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.

Monet’s visit to the Italian Riviera in 1883 was a vacation from work, but he returned in January 1884 with missionary zeal, primed for battle and hoping to bring back paintings that would capture the region he felt required a “palette of diamonds and jewels because of the blues and pinks.”^[10] The Art Institute’s painting and two related canvases were among those he began after February 7, when he gained access to the private residence of Francesco Moreno on the Via Romana, a short walk from the Pension Anglaise near the città alta (fig. 20.3).^[11] The numerous pictures Monet painted there showcase Moreno’s property, especially the “pure fairyland garden”^[12] located along the Via Romana (fig. 20.4, fig. 20.5 [D277], and fig. 20.6 [W865]), including one promised to the artist Berthe Morisot as a decoration for the dining room of her recently finished home in Paris (fig. 20.7 [W857]).^[13] But for the Chicago painting and two related views Monet chose a vantage point outside the Moreno gardens, up the Via Romana to the area around the Torre dei Mostaccini (fig. 20.8), an ancient Roman watchtower surrounded by a stone wall.^[14]4

Figs. 20.3–20.8

Top left and center, a tall multi-story building with many shuttered windows rises behind neighboring structures, with dark tree branches entering from the upper right. Across the middle, dense palm trees and other vegetation line a walkway behind a low railing. Bottom right, a wide stairway curves upward beside a wall labeled “HOTEL BEL…,” and two people are visible walking near the railing; a hillside with more palms appears in the far left background. — Fig. 20.3

Postcard showing the Pension Anglaise. Reproduced from Silvia Alborno, *Monet à Bordighera* (Città di Bordighera, 1998), p. 49.

Foreground shows a curving road bordered by dense trees in dark gray, with a large multi-story building on the right that has dark shutters and several light chimneys on the roof. In the midground, more trees and a few tall palm trees surround a small light-gray house near the road. In the background, a hillside holds a tight cluster of light-gray buildings with a tall tower rising above them, and on the far right the land meets a flat body of water under a pale sky. — Fig. 20.4

Postcard view of the garden of Francesco Moreno and the Via Romana. Reproduced from Silvia Alborno, *Monet à* *Bordighera* (Città di Bordighera, 1998), p. 110.

Top left shows two tree shapes with fan-like leaves, and below them a long curving wall runs from the left edge toward the center foreground. In the center background are clustered building forms, including a taller structure with a rounded dome and smaller rooftop shapes nearby. The right side contains a tall rectangular facade and a narrow vertical element, forming an open space between them and the left wall that recedes into the distance. Colors are light tan with thin gray lines, with a circular red stamp and a small number 2 near the upper right. — Fig. 20.5

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Città Alta of Bordighera*, 1884 (sketchbook 5, p. 3 [folio 2r]). Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris. Giraudon/Bridgeman Images.

Foreground shows a narrow dirt path cutting through dense greenery, with large spiky-leaved plants on both the left and right. In the middle, tall palms with fronds in green, yellow, and brown fill the scene. In the background, light tan buildings with red roofs rise above the trees, including a tall tower with a rounded yellow-gold top, under a light blue sky with soft white clouds. — Fig. 20.6

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Gardens of the Villa Moreno, Bordighera*, 1884. Oil on canvas; 73 × 92 cm (28 3/4 × 36 5/8 in.). Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida, Bequest of R. H. Norton, 53.134.

Pale blue sky spans the top above hazy blue-gray mountains. Across the middle, tall palm trees and a single taller stalk with small red blooms rise over dense green and orange shrubs; at left are light yellow and pink buildings along a road, and at right a light cream building with arched windows and a balcony occupies the edge. In the foreground, a large blue‑green spiky plant spreads wide leaves, with surrounding foliage in green, yellow, and rusty red. — Fig. 20.7

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Villas in Bordighera*, 1884. Oil on canvas; 115 × 130 cm (45 5/16 × 51 3/16 in.). Musée d’Orsay, Paris, RF 2000 94 DO 1, 1992. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.

At the top, dense tree branches fill the sky, with a tall, rough stone structure in the upper center-right. In the middle, an exterior staircase curves up the side of the structure while gnarled trees frame the right side; near the lower left, an adult in dark clothing and a light-colored hat stands facing the steps. At the bottom, uneven ground with scattered leaves stretches across the foreground, making the person appear small compared with the large structure. — Fig. 20.8

Postcard view of the Torre dei Mostaccini.

The tower, overlooking Bordighera and its città alta, was a popular attraction, as evidenced by contemporary guidebook descriptions.^[15] It is even possible that Monet was aware of a contemporary guidebook to artistic views in Bordighera, Les motifs artistiques de Bordighera,^[16] by fellow Frenchman and architect of the Paris Opéra Charles Garnier, which included a description of the picturesque possibilities looking down from the tower:5

We must now pass by the stone wall raised in front of the tower, and turn again into the little bridle-path which descends on our right, and by which we shall arrive almost immediately at the level plateau, where there is the cluster of pines which crowns that portion of the summit [emphasis added]. Before continuing the track which leads us back again to the plain, let us stop for a few moments on the pine crest and turn our eyes toward the left: here are at least four or five delightful subjects for our sketch-books, which seem to stand out from their surroundings, as if only waiting to be reproduced on canvas. This is an especially characteristic corner of Bordighera, and one which is not likely to be soon forgotten.^[17]6

The picturesque view of Bordighera described here—seen from the path leading up to the tower and reproduced in a contemporary postcard (fig. 20.9)—was captured by Monet in three canvases. He seems to have set up his easel at three different elevations, each of which allowed the full vision of the skyline. Perhaps beginning at the plateau mentioned in the guidebook (fig. 20.10 [W852]), he gradually moved up the hill (fig. 20.11 [W853]) to finally arrive at the summit (the Chicago version), from where Bordighera appears nested, less panoramic, and secondary to its lush surroundings.^[18] The Art Institute painting is the only one of the three in which the twisted trunks and branches of pine trees nearly screen out the village. At the same time, the artist was careful not to block the tower of one of the topographical landmarks, the bell tower of the old city (fig. 20.12), moving it to the left so that it would not be hidden by the largest, centermost tree (fig. 20.13). Indeed, Monet seems to have privileged the trees, leaving them intact and painting over the bell tower (to accommodate its shifted position) after it was dry (fig. 20.14), as he did with some of the buildings and foliage at the right edge of the village, which once extended up a little bit more into what is now the water.^[19]7

At the top, dark tree branches and needles stretch across, with a thick trunk rising from the left. Across the middle, a distant town of small light buildings includes a dome and a tall narrow tower on a low hill. Beyond it, a flat light-gray strip of sea meets a pale sky on the horizon. At the bottom, dense dark shrubs and treetops fill the foreground, and along the lower edge the printed text reads “Bordighera da Monteverde.” — Fig. 20.9

Postcard view toward Bordighera.

At the top, a pale blue and gray sky is partly framed by two large pine trees with dark brown trunks and deep green clusters of leaves arching in from the left and right. Across the center, a distant cluster of small buildings in peach, pink, and beige spans a ridge, with one thin tower rising slightly above them. In the foreground, a sloping hillside is filled with dense shrubs and trees in dark green, blue-green, and brown, and a wide band of deep blue runs along the horizon behind the town. — Fig. 20.10

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Bordighera*, 1884. Oil on canvas; 60 × 73 cm (23 5/8 × 28 3/4 in.). Private collection.

At the top, a pale blue‑green sky meets a dark blue sea with a few small white specks on the water. Across the middle, a compact hillside town of small yellow, peach, and light pink buildings spans left to right; a tall narrow tower stands near left‑center, and a pale rectangular building sits slightly lower toward the center. In the foreground, dense foliage in dark and bright greens with twisting brown trunks fills the lower half and frames both sides, with the large trees partly obscuring the smaller town behind them. — Fig. 20.11

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *View of Bordighera*, 1884. Oil on canvas; 66 × 81.8 cm (26 × 32 3/16 in.). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, The Armand Hammer Collection, gift of the Armand Hammer Foundation.

At the top, a pale cream clock tower with a domed bell and small cross rises against a blue sky, with a round clock face on its front. Across the middle, light cream and pale pink buildings with green shutters line a narrow passage; one spans the street with an archway and a short crenellated edge, and a sign on the left reads “Barbiere Dino” beneath red-and-white striped awnings. At the bottom, a gray-paved square meets several arched doorways and small shopfronts, with potted green plants and a wall-mounted black lantern on the right; the tower is the tallest element behind the lower buildings. — Fig. 20.12

The bell tower in the *città alta* of Bordighera. Photograph by David Papalini.

Top and sides show a light gray border with four bright white L‑shaped corner brackets and small tick marks, framing a darker rectangular area. Inside the frame, a grayscale field of dense, swirling patterns fills the space; several pale, ribbon‑like lines curve from the lower left across the center and extend upward, with one thicker pale line running roughly vertically near the middle. The lower half is darker and more tightly mottled, while the upper half has broader, softer patches with occasional bright streaks, spanning tones from nearly black to white. — X-Ray

At the top, pale blue sky meets a deep blue sea along a high horizon. Across the middle, a small cluster of tan and peach buildings with a few tall tower shapes sits on a hillside, partly screened by foliage. In the foreground, several large trees with twisting gray‑brown trunks and dense green canopies stretch left to right, with smaller shrubs and undergrowth at the bottom. The trees appear much larger than the distant town, emphasizing a close foreground and far background. — Natural Light

Fig. 20.13

X-ray and natural-light overlay detail of Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing the position of the bell tower in an earlier stage of the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Top area shows a textured field of deep blue with scattered tan and light-beige specks; near the upper center is a small orange-brown spot. Across the middle run horizontal ridges and shallow grooves in blue with lighter blue and off-white streaks, with occasional dark specks. The lower portion is darker blue to blackish with thicker ridges and a few tan patches. A scale bar labeled 1.0 cm sits at the bottom right, indicating a small field of view. — Monet 22.426 MIC 18

Left to right and foreground to background: a tall, twisting tree trunk stands along the left edge and another slender trunk curves up near the center, both rising from dense green and yellow foliage. In the middle distance at center-right, a compact cluster of small, light tan and pink structures sits on a rocky, green slope. Farther back, deep blue water fills much of the center and right. The structures are small compared to the trees, and the upper area shows green leaves with patches of pale blue sky. — Detail Location

Fig. 20.14

Photomicrograph of Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing that the previous bell tower was painted over after it was already dry. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

A Pattern of Pines

The most radical and distinguishing aspects of the painting are the patterns of pine trees, which curtain the seascape.^[20] X-ray images show that these were drawn in paint at the initial stage of the lay-in, while the rest of the composition, especially the town with the bell tower that he shifted to the left, seems to have been first laid in and then altered (fig. 20.15). Monet highlighted the trunks with long, impasted strokes of white paint to suggest the streaming sunlight on the hillside in contrast to the flecked, comma-like strokes that he used to describe the surrounding foliage (e.g., fig. 20.16).8

Grayscale composition filled with dense, swirling gray and black marks. From top to bottom, a central irregular line runs vertically with thick branches curving from the lower left toward center and from mid-center toward the upper right; a lighter, uneven horizontal band sits across the middle right. All four edges show small white L-shaped corner brackets and short tick marks along the borders, while the central branching lines are among the thickest elements compared with the finer surrounding marks. — X-Ray

Top half shows a bright blue sky above deep blue water with a clear horizontal horizon. In the middle, a cluster of small tan and pink buildings with a tall central tower sits on a slope near the center. Foreground is filled with dense green trees and shrubs, with several large, twisting trunks from the left and right partially framing the town; the trees appear large while the buildings look small in the distance. — Natural Light

Fig. 20.15

X-ray and natural-light overlay of Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing that elements of the composition were altered around the pine trees, which were laid in at an initial stage of the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Top area shows pale blue sky over a wide band of deep blue water. In the middle, a cluster of small tan and light pink buildings with a tall tower sits on a hillside, partly obscured by branches. Foreground is filled with large, twisting trees and dense green leaves, with pale gray trunks curving across the view, making the distant town appear small behind them. — Fig. 20.16

Detail of Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing the long, impasted strokes of white painted used to suggest sunlight and curved strokes used to define the surrounding foliage. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

As usual, the technical strategies Monet adopted in earlier landscapes and seascapes were now applied: capturing the main features of the motif with thinly applied brushstrokes, building the composition up from this initial lay-in, and employing wet-on-wet touches of color to add texture and highlights (see Technical Report). In the Chicago version especially, he painted wet-on-wet in the foliage but in other areas let the paint dry completely before returning to make changes or rework the original idea, such as in the tree trunk at right (fig. 20.17; see Technical Report). Added to his previous commitment to painting en plein air was the need to calculate and create chromatic harmonies. This required a large space, one that allowed him to spread out his canvases and assess his work to date. In a letter to Durand-Ruel in late April, Monet insisted that he be able to rework the paintings from his Italian trip before handing anything over to the gallery—a demand that underscored the importance the artist placed on the effect of the totality, of the ensemble, which could not be realized fully in front of the motif.^[21]9

At the top, green tree canopies frame a strip of light blue sky and a wide band of deep blue water. In the middle, twisted tree trunks and branches curve left to right, opening to a distant cluster of small tan and pink buildings with a tall tower near the center. In the foreground, dense dark- to bright-green shrubs and trees fill the lower edge, with the nearby trees appearing large while the distant buildings appear small. — Fig. 20.17

Detail of Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing strokes of white added to a tree trunk on top of already dry paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

The village and landscape of Bordighera presented the artist with particular new challenges, including its rich vegetation, so different from the coast of Normandy. And its foreignness, which, coupled with his self-imposed isolation, pushed him out of the familiar into radical experimentations of color and light.

Gloria Groom10

Technical Summary

Claude Monet’s Bordighera was painted on a pre-primed, no. 25 portrait (figure) standard-size linen canvas. The off-white ground layer consists of a single, or possibly double, application. The painting was built up using a variety of brush applications, including thinly applied strokes used for the initial lay-in of the composition; this was followed by a buildup of smooth, opaque brushstrokes and low impasto, and some final, light-handed strokes that skip across the surface of the underlying paint texture. The brushstrokes were applied in a relatively open network that leaves small areas of the ground layer exposed throughout the painting. Only a few minor revisions were made to the composition during painting. These include a change in the position of the bell tower, which was originally painted farther to the right on the other side of the adjacent tree. The buildings and foliage at the right edge of the village seem to have originally extended up a little farther into the area now occupied by the water. A slight adjustment was also made to the contour of the diagonal tree trunk, just above the left side of the village.^[22]11

Multilayer Interactive Image Viewer

The multilayer interactive image viewer is designed to facilitate the viewer’s exploration and comparison of the technical images (fig. 20.18).^[23]12

Foreground shows tall, curving tree trunks and dense foliage in varied greens with touches of brown and white. In the middle distance, a small cluster of light tan and pinkish buildings with one taller tower appears on a hillside, much smaller in scale than the trees. Farther back, deep blue water spans the width of the scene, meeting a narrow band of pale blue sky at the top. — Natural Light

Top area shows dark gray, mottled textures with scattered light gray streaks. Center features several light gray, branching, curved bands that run vertically and diagonally across a medium-gray field. Bottom area is densely packed with small, dark gray curls and swirls, with a lighter horizontal band near the lower center. White L-shaped brackets appear at all four corners with small tick marks along the edges, which are small compared to the large textured central area. — X-Ray

From top to bottom, dense tree canopies in dark gray fill much of the scene, with two pale, twisting trunks running vertically near the center. In the middle distance, a large, light gray rectangular building with rows of small arch-like openings stretches across the center, partly hidden by branches. The lower half is packed with darker gray foliage, and curved branches enter from the left and right edges. — Infrared Reflectogram (1.0–1.1 µm)

Top area shows a dense green tree canopy with glimpses of deep blue water and a small patch of pale blue sky at the upper right. Across the middle, tall twisting brown trunks and branches span left to right, framing a cluster of small tan shapes on a sloping green hillside near the center. The bottom portion is filled with thick green shrubs and smaller trees, with the foreground trees appearing largest and the distant water and tan cluster smaller behind them. — Raking Light

A large central rectangle fills most of the frame, surrounded by a narrow dark border in black and deep teal. Inside the rectangle, dense clusters of small marks in yellow, orange, red, and dark green form a textured field, crossed by several medium-thick curving and branching orange lines that run diagonally and vertically. The top area is lighter with more yellow, the center has a darker horizontal band in purples and deep reds, and the bottom shifts to darker greens with a curved orange line rising toward the middle. The branching lines intersect near the center and are thicker than the surrounding speckled marks. — Transmitted Light

Rectangular gray surface framed by a thick black border. From top center toward bottom center, several pale, curving light‑gray bands cross the field, while small dark‑gray specks and short strokes are scattered throughout; marks are sparser in the upper half and densely clustered in the lower half. A darker horizontal band runs along the bottom edge. Single image with no separate panels. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0–1.1 µm)

Top section shows deep blue sky glimpsed through a broad canopy of dark green trees. Across the middle, several twisting gray-brown trunks and branches rise, with gaps revealing a dark blue body of water and a compact cluster of small, light tan block-like shapes in the distance. Bottom area is filled with dense, dark green shrubs and additional trunks at the edges, with the large foreground trees appearing much bigger than the distant pale shapes. — Ultraviolet

Fig. 20.18

Monet’s Bordighera (1884). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426. Interactive image.

Signature

Signature/Stamp

Signed and dated: Claude Monet 84 (lower left corner, in dark-reddish-brown paint^[24]) (fig. 20.19). There is some wet-in-wet mixing with underlying paint layers, specifically, the bright-yellow and bright-green strokes of the foliage (fig. 20.20). These strokes may represent final touches added just before the painting was signed.^[25]13

Top area shows pale blue sky over a deep blue sea stretching across the width. In the foreground, large trees with twisting light-brown trunks and bright green leaves extend left to right. Through gaps near the center, a compact cluster of small tan and cream buildings with a few taller towers appears on a slope above the water. Dark-green shrubs fill the bottom edge, with the trees appearing large and the town small in the distance. — Fig. 20.19

Detail of Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing the signature. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Top area is mostly yellow with patches of green and a few small dark spots. Across the center from left to right, thick wavy ridges of yellow mix with dark brown and black, with narrow streaks of bright blue‑green running between them. The lower area is mainly green with scattered tiny gray flecks, and near the right edge there is a cluster of dark purple and black with a small red mark; a white scale bar labeled 5.0 mm appears at the bottom right. — Monet 22.426 MIC 4

Upper area is solid black. Along the bottom edge, a narrow horizontal band shows mixed colors dominated by green, with patches of yellow, pink, blue, and dark gray spread left to right. Near the lower center of this band, a small white rectangle outlines a small section within the colored area. The colored band occupies a much smaller area compared to the large black region above it. — Detail Location

Fig. 20.20

Photomicrograph of the signature of Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing wet-in-wet paint application. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Structure and Technique

Support

Canvas
Flax (commonly known as linen).^[26]14

Standard format
The dimensions correspond closely to a no. 25 portrait (figure) standard-size canvas (81 × 65 cm), turned horizontally.^[27]15

Weave
Plain weave. Average thread count (standard deviation): 23.5V (1.5) × 19.3H (0.5) threads/cm. The horizontal threads were determined to correspond to the warp and the vertical threads to the weft.^[28] No weave matches were found with other Monet paintings analyzed for this project.16

Canvas characteristics
Cusping is very pronounced and widely spaced along the right edge and strong along the bottom edge. There is mild, closely spaced cusping on the top edge. Cusping on the left edge is difficult to discern.17

Stretching
Current stretching: Dates to 1966 treatment (see Conservation History); copper tacks spaced 7–9 cm apart.18

Original stretching: The original tacking margins are deteriorated and abraded, with several losses to the fabric. The old tack holes, spaced 3–4 cm apart, probably represent two or more tacking campaigns. There are also some smaller, less deteriorated pinholes. The tack holes do not appear to correspond to the cusping pattern, but this is difficult to confirm since not all of the edges are intact. On the right edge, where cusping is most pronounced, the point of attachment seems to be well beyond the current edge of the fabric.^[29]19

Stretcher/strainer
Current stretcher: Four-membered ICA spring stretcher. Depth: 2.5 cm.20

Original stretcher: Discarded/not documented.21

Manufacturer’s/supplier’s marks
None observed in the current examination or documented in previous examinations.22

Preparatory Layers

Sizing
Not determined (probably glue).^[30]23

Ground application/texture
The ground extends to the edges of all four tacking margins, indicating that the canvas was cut from a larger piece of primed fabric that was probably commercially prepared. The ground layer is relatively thin, and the canvas weave remains prominent. Cross-sectional analysis of a sample taken from the tacking edge suggests the presence of a single layer (fig. 20.21); however, the backscattered electron (BSE) image of a cross section taken from the picture plane indicates a possible double application (fig. 20.22). There are numerous old, tiny losses of paint and ground layers throughout the painting, as well as microcracking in the ground that corresponds to the weave of the canvas (fig. 20.23).24

Top area is dark gray, bordered below by a thin, uneven white strip that runs horizontally. Beneath it lies a wide brown band with faint lighter streaks and scattered small white specks, transitioning near the bottom into a darker brown zone with larger irregular white patches. A scale bar in the upper right reads 50 μm. — Monet 22.426 x1295_20x_DIC_b

Against a black background, a single rectangular scene sits on the left, with a small white arrow near its top edge. At the top of the scene are pale blue sky and, below it, a wide band of deep blue water stretching across the right side. The foreground and left side are filled with tall green trees with twisting gray-brown trunks and dense foliage. In the middle distance near the center-left is a compact cluster of light tan shapes along the shoreline, with darker green shrubs and trees at the lower right; the trees appear largest, the tan cluster smaller, and the water recedes toward the horizon. — Sample Location

Fig. 20.21

Photomicrograph of a cross section of the ground and canvas layers of Monet’s Bordighera (1884). Original magnification: 200×. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Dark gray background spans the scene, with a bright white, elongated band running horizontally across the center and crossed by several dark, jagged lines. Inside the band are small light-gray to white spots; a thinner, slightly darker strip hugs its lower edge, and the band tapers toward the right side. Above and below, the background remains dark gray with scattered tiny light flecks and irregular darker lines. A white scale bar at bottom right reads 100 µm, and white text along the bottom shows 20.0 kV, 4.7 mm, x400, and BSECOMP. — Monet 22.426 x1293_f

Foreground shows tall trees with twisting brown-gray trunks and dense green leaves, filling the left and right sides. In the middle ground, a small cluster of tan buildings sits on a hill, partly hidden by the trees. Background features a wide band of deep blue water and a light blue sky with soft white areas; the trees appear large compared to the much smaller buildings and distant sea. — Sample Location

Fig. 20.22

Backscattered electron (BSE) image of the ground and paint layers of Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing possible double application of the ground (lighter gray area at bottom of sample). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Top section shows irregular black and dark brown patches mixed with scattered white flecks, with pale pink and gray around them. From the left down to the bottom edge are wide bands of green with small yellow spots, and the right side has a dark, almost triangular area beside more white and yellow specks. A scale bar in the lower right reads 2.0 mm. — Monet 22.426 MIC 7

Top three-quarters is solid black. Along the bottom is a narrow band filled with mottled greens and yellows, with patches of pink, blue, and dark purple; across the lower center is dark cursive text that reads “Paul Cezanne.” Near the lower-left, a small white rectangular outline highlights a tiny area within the green and yellow region. The colored band occupies roughly the bottom fifth of the overall frame. — Detail Location

Fig. 20.23

Photomicrograph of the signature of Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing microcracks and small losses in the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Color
The ground is off-white in color, with some dark particles observed under magnification.25

Materials/composition
Analysis indicates that the ground contains lead white with traces of iron oxides, alumina, silica, barium sulfate, silicates, and calcium-based white.^[31]26

Compositional Planning/Underdrawing/Painted Sketch

Extent/character
None detected with infrared reflectography (IRR) or microscopic examination.27

Paint Layer

Application/technique and artist’s revisions
The work was painted using an open network of brushstrokes with small patches of exposed ground visible throughout. The composition was laid in using thinly applied strokes of paint that emphasize the texture of the canvas weave, and was then built up using thicker, more textural strokes and low impasto (fig. 20.24). The tree trunks and main branches were mapped out early on in the composition, with the landscape, sea, and sky built up around them. The trunks and branches were laid in using thinly applied, dark reddish-brown and purplish-gray strokes (fig. 20.25); this early brushwork was mostly covered by the subsequent buildup of paint, which includes both smooth and highly textured strokes, layered one over the other along the length of the trees (fig. 20.26). The sky was built up using varying shades of pale blue and gray, while the starting point for the water was a deeper blue. The foliage was laid in using individual touches of thinly applied color in relatively dull tones compared with the more brightly colored brushstrokes used in the upper paint layers (fig. 20.27, fig. 20.28). The painting was then built up using a variety of superimposed brush applications. This includes solid, relatively smooth strokes; thicker, more textural strokes and low impasto; as well as broken strokes where the paint was lightly dragged across the peaks of the underlying paint texture. Sometimes more than one color was picked up on the brush and laid down without any mixing. The strokes of bright-green and bright-yellow paint used throughout the landscape provide an example of this (fig. 20.29). The village is constructed almost entirely from individual short strokes and touches of color, which were applied openly so that the lighter areas of the buildings are actually exposed ground (fig. 20.30). The artist moved back and forth between different areas, working up the composition as a whole. The work incorporates both wet-in-wet and wet-over-dry paint application, and the fact that areas of thick impasto were already surface dry in some places when subsequent paint layers were applied on top (fig. 20.31) suggests that the painting was carried out over a period of time. The artist added a few finishing touches of bright-yellow and bright-green paint to the lower left corner, which were still wet when he signed the work (fig. 20.32).28

At the top, light blue sky meets a wide band of deep blue sea across the middle. In the foreground, large trees with pale, twisting trunks and dense green leaves stretch left to right, occupying most of the view. Through an opening near the center, a small cluster of tan and pink buildings with a taller central tower appears on a hillside, much smaller in scale than the trees, with dark green shrubs and foliage filling the lower edge. — Fig. 20.24

Detail of a tree in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing the buildup of the brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

From left to right: a band of tan and beige ridges appears, with a small patch of green-gray and a thin streak of dark red near the top edge. The center shows pale tan ridges that shift into a darker area. The right side is mostly dark purple-black with scattered small yellow spots. A white scale bar at the bottom right is labeled 1.0 cm. — Monet 22.426 MIC 13

At the top, a wide expanse of deep blue water fills the background, edged by green tree canopy. Across the middle, thick brown and gray tree trunks and branches arc from left to right. Behind and below the branches sits a dense cluster of small light tan and pink buildings, with one taller structure near the center. At the bottom, bright green foliage and a winding pale path occupy the foreground. — Detail Location

Fig. 20.25

Photomicrograph of a tree in Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

In the foreground, twisting tree trunks and dense green leaves fill the scene from left to right. In the middle ground, a small cluster of tan and light orange buildings with a slender tower sits between the trees. In the background, deep blue water stretches across the width beneath a pale blue sky; the trees are large in front, while the town appears much smaller in the distance. — Fig. 20.26

Detail of a tree trunk in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Top area and center show a tan, speckled surface with a faint grid-like pattern and small dark dots. Left side has irregular green patches with drip-like edges and a dark, rounded spot near the middle-left. Right side features a wide diagonal band of dark red, black, and green with a blue-violet edge running from the bottom right toward the upper center, marked by fine light flecks. A white scale bar labeled 1.0 cm spans the bottom edge. — Monet 22.426 MIC 14

A small landscape scene sits in the lower-left corner against a large black background. Across the top of the scene, twisting tree branches with green leaves stretch over a wide band of deep blue water. Below the water, a cluster of light tan and pink buildings with a tall tower stands on a slope, with darker green trees in front. At the bottom, dense green vegetation fills the foreground, and the tree trunks appear large compared to the distant buildings. — Detail Location

Fig. 20.27

Photomicrograph of foliage in Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing a thin yellow underlayer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Figs. 20.28–20.32

Top third shows a pale blue sky meeting a deep blue sea at the horizon. Across the middle, tall trees with twisting gray-brown trunks and dense green foliage frame a small cluster of tan and peach buildings with a prominent tower on a hillside. Bottom and sides are filled with thick green shrubs and branches, with the large foreground trunks making the distant town appear small. — Fig. 20.28

Detail of a tree in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing a thin, yellowish-green underlayer used to lay in the foliage. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Foreground shows tall, winding tree trunks with dense green leaves that fill most of the top and sides, with pale brown and white along the bark. In the middle ground, through openings in the foliage, a compact hillside town of small tan and peach buildings sits near the center, with a couple of taller tower-like structures. Background features a wide stretch of deep blue water and a band of light blue sky at the very top. The trees are large and close, while the town is small in the distance. — Fig. 20.29

Detail of the foliage in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing brushstrokes of incompletely mixed yellow and green paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

At the top, a light blue sky meets a dark blue sea along the horizon. In the foreground, large twisted tree trunks and dense green leaves stretch across the scene, with branches partially blocking the view behind them. In the middle distance, a small cluster of tan and cream buildings with a tall central tower sits on a hillside by the water. Colors are mostly green for foliage, blue for sky and sea, and tan for the buildings; the trees appear large and close, while the town looks small and far away. — Fig. 20.30

Detail of the village in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing exposed ground visible through the open brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

From foreground to background, twisting tree trunks with light gray bark and dense green leaves fill most of the view. Through openings between the branches near the center, a small cluster of tan and light pink buildings with a tall central tower sits on a slope. Beyond the buildings, a wide expanse of deep blue water meets a pale blue sky, making the buildings appear small and distant compared with the large nearby trees. — Fig. 20.31

Detail of a tree in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing paint applied over a stroke of thick white impasto that had already dried. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

At the top, pale blue sky meets a wide band of deep blue sea. In the foreground, large trees with twisting light-gray and brown trunks and dense green leaves span left to right, partially opening to a middle view of a cluster of small tan and pink buildings with a tall central tower along the water. Dark and light green shrubs fill the bottom edge, with additional trees on the right and left framing the distant buildings. — Fig. 20.32

Detail of the lower-left corner in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing green and yellow brushstrokes that were still wet when the signature was applied. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

For the most part, the composition was built up directly from the initial lay-in without any major alterations as the painting progressed. Only a few minor changes were observed. For example, in the middle ground, the position of the bell tower was relocated from the immediate right of the main foreground tree trunk to the left side of it (fig. 20.33). This could reflect a change in the artist’s vantage point after he had started the work, or it may have been an aesthetic or compositional decision. Traces of the first tower are visible in the form of vertical ridges of slightly thicker paint (fig. 20.34). There are also small areas of cream and pale-pink paint similar to that used for other buildings, which remain visible through breaks in the brushwork of the water that was applied on top (fig. 20.35). The undisturbed vertical ridges of the brushstrokes indicate that the paint from the tower was set up when the water was painted on top. The final bell tower was painted on top of the already-dry blue paint of the water in that area (fig. 20.36). These observations indicate that some time passed between the first painting of this area of the composition and the revisions. At the far right side of the village, there are some green, pink, and yellow strokes of paint visible underneath the water (fig. 20.37), which seem to indicate that the buildings and adjacent landscape may have extended further into the water in this area at an earlier stage of the painting. Other minor changes include a slight emendation to the lower contour of the diagonal tree trunk in the area where it passes over the water, just left of center. Here, the blue paint of the water to the right was extended over the lower edge of the trunk, making it narrower in that area, and the upper edge of the trunk was subsequently broadened slightly, with the result that the trunk dips less than it originally did in that area (fig. 20.38).29

Top area shows mottled dark and medium gray with scattered lighter streaks; near the center, several pale, branching, curving bands run diagonally from the upper left and upper middle toward the lower half. The middle includes a lighter horizontal band on the right side, surrounded by darker, swirling gray patterns. The bottom half is densely filled with dark gray curls and waves, with a few long, pale curves dropping near the center-left and center. A light gray border surrounds the scene, with white L-shaped corner brackets and small tick marks along all four edges. — X-Ray

Top section shows a band of bright blue sky and deep blue sea, partly covered by the leafy canopy of tall green pines. Across the center, several pale, twisting trunks and branches cross the view, revealing a small cluster of light tan and pink buildings with a few taller towers on a hillside above the water. Bottom area is filled with dense shrubs and lower tree trunks in dark and bright greens. The trees are large in the foreground, while the town appears small and distant. — Natural Light

Fig. 20.33

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing a change made to the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426. Interactive image.

Top half holds a wide expanse of dark blue with a few small touches of pale yellow and green. Middle and right areas contain a dense cluster of light cream, peach, and yellow buildings arranged in uneven rows, marked with darker purple and blue patches. Left foreground shows a tall, curving dark vertical form with streaks of green, and the bottom edge is filled with deep greens and blacks. — Fig. 20.34

Detail of the village in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing the vertical brushstrokes of the bell tower that was originally painted to the right of the tree. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

From top left to right, a rough surface in deep blue fills the view, with scattered small beige specks and a single orange-brown fleck near the upper center. Across the middle, wavy ridges of blue run mostly horizontally, intersected by a few thin light lines and tiny dark spots. Toward the bottom, the blue turns darker to navy with deeper grooves and a few tan patches, and a white scale bar labeled 1.0 cm appears along the lower right, indicating a very small area. — Monet 22.426 MIC 18

On the left half, at the top, leafy green branches and twisted brown tree trunks cross in front of deep blue water. In the middle, the blue water continues behind the trees, and below it lie tan and pink rocky areas mixed with bright green vegetation; a large curving trunk rises from the bottom center. Near the center-right of this landscape, a small white square outline sits over the scene. The entire right half of the overall frame is solid black. — Detail Location

Fig. 20.35

Photomicrograph of the water in Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing traces of the earlier bell tower. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Left side is mostly blue with lighter lines and scattered specks. The center is a vertical reddish-brown band dotted with small white marks, and the right side shows irregular dark blue-black shapes beside a pale yellow section. A white bar labeled 1.0 cm runs along the bottom for scale. — Monet 22.426 MIC 16

From top to bottom, leafy green branches and two twisting tree trunks frame a wide expanse of deep blue water. Across the middle, the trunks curve downward while a cluster of small, tightly packed light tan and pink buildings sits to the left along the shoreline, with blue water stretching to the right. At the bottom, dense green vegetation fills the foreground, and the nearer tree trunks appear large compared with the smaller, distant buildings. — Detail Location

Fig. 20.36

Photomicrograph of the bell tower in Monet’s Bordighera (1884) showing wet-over-dry paint application. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Across the top, light blue sky meets deep blue sea at the horizon. In the middle, a small coastal town with tan and pink buildings sits on a slope, partly obscured by greenery. In the foreground, large twisting tree trunks and broad green canopies dominate the scene, with branches curving in from the left and right to frame the smaller, distant buildings and water. — Fig. 20.37

Detail of the water in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing more colorful brushstrokes underneath the blue paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Top area shows a light blue sky and a dark-to-light blue sea, partly covered by wide green tree canopies. Center features several tall, curving tree trunks and branches stretching left to right, framing a small cluster of tan and pink buildings with a taller tower near the middle. Bottom area is dense green shrubs and foliage; the trees appear large in the foreground while the town appears small in the distance. — Fig. 20.38

Detail of the landscape in Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing an adjustment made to a tree limb where the blue paint from the water was extended over the edge of the branch. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

An intermittent band of pale-blue paint, on the left side near the top edge, appears to be the result of paint transfer, possibly from an easel cleat or transporting device (fig. 20.39). A few areas of scraping into soft paint were observed along the bottom edge. These marks appear to be incidental, probably related to handling of the work when it was still wet (fig. 20.40).30

Top half shows a canopy of green leaves with twisting, pale-barked tree branches arching left and right. Through the center, a small town of light tan and peach buildings with one tall tower appears in front of a wide band of deep blue water, with pale blue sky above. Foreground has dense shrubs and several large, curving tree trunks in dark and bright greens, making the buildings look small by comparison. Foliage is thicker along the left and right edges, with the clearest opening toward the town near the middle. — Fig. 20.39

Detail of the top edge of Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing blue paint possibly transferred from an easel cleat. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

At the top, dense green tree canopy with twisting light-gray branches opens to patches of blue sky and deep blue water. In the middle, through gaps in the trees, a compact cluster of small tan and pink buildings with a tall central tower appears, with the blue water behind it. Foreground shows thick green shrubs and several large, curving tree trunks running left to right; the trees appear close and large while the town looks distant and small. — Fig. 20.40

Detail of the lower right corner of Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) showing marks made in the white brushstrokes when they were still wet. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Painting tools
Brushes including 0.5 and 1 cm width, flat ferrule (based on width and shape of brushstrokes). Several brush hairs are embedded in the paint layers.31

Palette
Analysis indicates the presence of the following pigments: lead white, cadmium yellow, chrome yellow, vermilion, red lake, emerald green, viridian, cobalt blue, and ultramarine blue.^[32] Areas of pinkish-orange UV fluorescence indicate that red lake was used in localized touches in the trees. A non-UV-fluorescing, deep-red lake was also observed in the shadowed areas at lower right and in the tree trunks and branches.^[33]32

Binding media
Oil (estimated).^[34]33

Surface Finish

Varnish layer/media
The painting has an even, slightly glossy, synthetic varnish, which was applied in 1966. There are residues of yellowed natural-resin varnish in the recesses of the paint texture. The natural-resin varnish was probably applied during the 1922 treatment (see Conservation History).34

Conservation History

An undated memo in the conservation file states that the painting was cleaned and varnished in 1922.^[35]35

The earliest examination report, dated 1957, indicates that the painting was already lined by that date.^[36] There are no further records indicating when the lining was carried out. The 1965 examination report states that the lining was aqueous (glue).^[37]36

In 1965–66, discolored surface films were removed. The previous lining canvas was removed mechanically, resulting in some holes at weak spots in the original canvas, which were filled with a brown gesso. The canvas was wax-resin lined and stretched on a new ICA spring stretcher. A spray coating of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) AYAA was applied. Losses were inpainted. A spray coating of methacrylate resin L-46 was applied, followed by a final spray coating of AYAA.^[38]37

Condition Summary

The painting is in good condition but has been impacted by previous damage and conservation treatments. The canvas is wax-resin lined and stretched taut on an ICA spring stretcher with no planar deformations. There are three vertical tears, ranging from 3 to 10 cm long, located approximately 10 cm in from the right edge, just inside the stretcher bar. The tears seemingly occurred while the artist was still working on the canvas, as original paint appears to span the damaged areas. The original tacking edges are deteriorated with tears and losses in the fabric and splits at the foldovers. There are numerous tiny losses of ground and paint layers throughout the painting. There are several places near the edges where tiny flakes of crushed and displaced ground and paint are adhered to the surface in thick wax-resin adhesive residues from the lining. There are also a few areas of flattened and moated impasto and crushed paint, which probably also occurred during lining. All of the previous damages and insecurities are stable. Cracking is minimal and, where present, is very fine and mainly visible only under magnification. Cracks are slightly more pronounced in areas of thick impasto. There are yellowed varnish residues in the recesses of the paint texture. Synthetic varnish applied in 1965/66 provides an even, saturated, slightly glossy surface. There is retouching around the edges; this is particularly extensive along the bottom. Several small, localized areas of mismatched retouching are visible within the painting. These appear to have been applied mainly to areas of loss where the canvas was exposed.

Kimberley Muir38

Frame

Current frame (installed in 2007): The frame is not original to the painting. It is a French (Provençal), late-seventeenth–early-eighteenth-century, Louis XIV frame with carved acanthus-leaf corners linked by foliate scrollwork and strapwork with flowers on a quadrillage bed with a sanded frieze and an acanthus-leaf-tip-and-flower sight molding on a recut fluted ground. The frame is water gilded over red bole on gesso. The ornament and sight moldings are selectively burnished; all other gilding is matte. The frame retains its original glue size. The carved fruitwood molding is mitered with angled dovetails. The molding, from perimeter to interior, is leaf-tip outer molding; scotia side; ogee with carved acanthus-leaf corners linked by continuous foliate scrollwork and strapwork with flowers on a quadrillage bed; sanded front frieze: ogee with carved acanthus-leaf tip and flowers on a recut fluted ground (fig. 20.41).^[39]39

Top shows pale blue sky meeting deep blue water. Across the middle, twisting tree trunks and broad green canopies stretch left to right, with a compact cluster of light tan buildings with orange roofs visible between the branches near the shoreline. Foreground is dense green foliage, and the trees appear large compared with the small, distant town. — Fig. 20.41

Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) in its current frame. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.426.

Previous frame (installed by 1975; removed in 2007): The work was previously housed in an American, twentieth-century, stylized, late-nineteenth-century, French-inspired molding frame with cast plaster foliate ornament and cove sight edge. The frame has both water and oil gilding with heavy toning (fig. 20.42).^[40]40

Left to right on a taupe gallery wall are three framed works: a small landscape with green trees under a blue sky; a much larger central scene showing a person in a red patterned robe, turned to the right and holding a white fan, with many pale fans behind; and a small coastal view with blue water, gray rocks, and orange-brown vegetation. The center frame is ornate gold and much larger than the two side frames, which are similar in size. Low barrier posts and their shadows run along the wall beneath the frames, with tan carpet in the foreground. — Fig. 20.42

Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) in a previous frame, installed in *Paintings by Monet*, Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Previous frame (installed by 1933): In the Century of Progress exhibition (1933–34), the painting was displayed in a late-nineteenth–early-twentieth-century, Louis XIV Revival, convex frame with deeply recessed cast plaster acanthus-leaf corners, foliate and fleur-de-lis ornament, and independent fillet liner with cove sight (fig. 20.43).41

Gallery interior in black and white shows a long wall with seven framed pictures hung in a single row, with a small rectangular wall label above the second frame from the left. From left to right: a small rectangular picture, a larger nearly square picture, a medium square, a small horizontal rectangle, then three medium rectangles; several appear to show landscapes, and the second from the right shows a figure near a window. Frames are light-colored and decorative, aligned along a molding that runs across the wall. A dark wooden table and chair sit in the lower left foreground, with open floor space between them and the wall. — Fig. 20.43

Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) in a previous frame, installed in *“A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture*, Art Institute of Chicago, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Kirk Vuillemot42

Sold by the artist to Isidore Montaignac, Paris, as the agent for Knoedler and Company, New York, Sept. 1891.^[41]43

Sold by Knoedler and Company, New York, to Potter Palmer, Chicago, Sept. 1891.^[42]44

By descent from Potter Palmer (died 1902), Chicago, to the Palmer family.^[43]45

Given by the Palmer family to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.46

Paris, Georges Petit, 6e exposition internationale de peinture et de sculpture, May 8–June 8, 1887, no cat. no.^[44]47

Boston, Copley Society, Loan Collection of Paintings by Claude Monet and Eleven Sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Mar. 1905, cat. 18, as Bordighera, 1884. Lent by Mrs. Potter Palmer.48

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings from the Collection of Mrs. Potter Palmer, May 10–Nov., 1910, cat. 33, as Antibes.^[45]49

Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933, cat. 290A.^[46] (fig. 20.44)50

Interior room with a light gray wall holding a row of seven framed pictures at mid-height; a small rectangular wall label sits high near the center, and a dark floor spans the bottom. From left to right: a small square frame, a larger rectangular frame (the biggest), a medium square, a small horizontal rectangle, a medium-wide rectangle, a medium vertical rectangle, and a medium-wide rectangle; the picture contents are not clearly visible in this black-and-white view. In the lower left foreground, part of a dark wooden table and chair are visible. The frames appear evenly spaced above a narrow wall molding, with open floor space in front. — Fig. 20.44

Installation of Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) in *“A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture*, Art Institute of Chicago, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture for 1934, June 1–Oct. 31, 1934, cat. 207.^[47]51

Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, French Impressionists and Post–Impressionists, Nov. 1934, cat. 9.^[48]52

Oberlin (Ohio) College, Allen Art Museum, Feb. 10–Mar. 19, 1953, no cat.^[49]53

Art Institute of Chicago, The Paintings of Claude Monet, Apr. 1–June 15, 1957, no cat. no.^[50]54

City Art Museum of St. Louis, Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, Sept. 25–Oct. 22, 1957, cat. 58 (ill.); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Nov. 1–Dec. 1, 1957.55

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975, cat. 64 (ill.). (fig. 20.45)56

From left to right, a beige gallery wall displays three framed works: a small landscape with green trees and blue sky; a much larger central piece in an ornate gold frame showing an adult in a red patterned robe standing sideways with head turned, surrounded by many round hand fans on a gray background; and a small coastal scene with blue water, pale sky, and a rocky slope with orange-brown plants. The central work is several times taller and wider than the two side pieces. Labels are mounted beside each frame, and short wall stanchions sit below the smaller frames. — Fig. 20.45

Installation of Monet’s *Bordighera* (1884) in *Paintings by Monet*, Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Hommage à Claude Monet (1840–1926), Feb. 8–May 5, 1980, cat. 88 (ill.).57

Paris, Centre Culturel du Marais, Claude Monet au temps de Giverny, Apr. 6–July 17, 1983, cat. 7 (ill.).^[51]58

Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, Shikago bijutsukan insho-ha ten [The Impressionist tradition: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago], Oct. 18–Dec. 17, 1985, cat. 42 (ill.); Fukuoka Art Museum, Jan. 5–Feb. 2, 1986; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Mar. 4–Apr. 13, 1986.59

Art Institute of Chicago, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, July 22–Nov. 26, 1995, cat. 77 (ill.).60

Forth Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, Monet and the Mediterranean, June 8–Sept. 7, 1997, cat. 4 (ill.); New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Oct. 10, 1997–Jan. 4, 1998.61

Portland (Ore.) Museum of Art, Impressions of the Riviera: Monet, Renoir, Matisse and Their Contemporaries, June 25–Oct. 18, 1998, cat. 50 (ill.).62

Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Vincent’s Choice: The Musée Imaginaire of Van Gogh, Feb. 14–June 15, 2003, cat. 138 (ill.).63

Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008, cat. 47 (ill.).64

Gustave Geffroy, “Salon de 1887. Hors du Salon: Claude Monet,” La justice, pt. 2 (June 2, 1887), p. 1.^[52]65

Gustave Geffroy, “Histoire de l’impressionnisme,” La vie artistique 3, 2 (1894), p. 70.^[53]66

Copley Society, Loan Collection of Paintings by Claude Monet and Eleven Sculptures by August Rodin, exh. cat. (Copley Society, 1905), p. 15, cat. 18.67

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings from the Collection of Mrs. Potter Palmer, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1910), cat. 33.68

Art Institute of Chicago, “Accessions and Loans,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 16, 3 (May 1922), p. 47.69

Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, and Paintings, pt. 2, Paintings (Art Institute of Chicago, 1922), p. 68, cat. 830.^[54]70

Gustave Geffroy, Claude Monet: Sa vie, son temps, son oeuvre (G. Crès, 1922), p. 273.^[55]71

M. C., “Monets in the Art Institute,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 19, 2 (Feb. 1925), p. 19.72

Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide to the Paintings in the Permanent Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1925), p. 146, cat. 830.73

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of “A Century of Progress”: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture; Lent from American Collections, ed. Daniel Catton Rich, 3rd ed., exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1933), p. 43, cat. 290A.74

Daniel Catton Rich, “Französische Impressionisten im Art Institute zu Chicago,” Pantheon: Monatsschrift für freunde und sammler der kunst 11, 3 (Mar. 1933), p. 77. Translated by C. C. H. Drechsel as “French Impressionists in the Art Institute of Chicago,” Pantheon/Cicerone (Mar. 1933), p. 18.75

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of “A Century of Progress”: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1934, ed. Daniel Catton Rich, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1934), p. 36, cat. 207.)76

Toledo Museum of Art, Catalogue: French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, exh. cat. (Toledo Museum of Art, 1934), cat. 9.77

George Slocombe, “Giver of Light,” Coronet (Mar. 1938), p. 25 (ill.).78

Oscar Reuterswärd, Monet: En konstnärshistorik (Bonniers, 1948), opp. 104 (ill.); p. 285.79

Kenneth Clark, Landscape into Art (John Murray, 1949), pp. xiii; 93; pl. 83.^[56]80

Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1956), p. 34.81

Art Institute of Chicago, ”Homage to Claude Monet,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 24.82

Art Institute of Chicago, “Catalogue,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 33.83

Art Institute of Chicago, “Chronology,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 30 (ill.).84

Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, exh. cat. (Minneapolis Society of the Fine Arts, 1957), pp. 64; 65, cat. 58 (ill.).85

Edith Weigle, “The Wonderful World of Art,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 26, 1957, p. E2.86

William C. Seitz, “Claude Monet’s View of Nature,” in Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, exh. cat. (Minneapolis Society of the Fine Arts, 1957), pp. 24, 30.87

Denis Rouart, Claude Monet, trans. James Emmons (Skira, 1958), pp. 80 (ill.), 129.88

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), p. 319.^[57]89

Yvon Taillandier, Monet, trans. A. P. H. Hamilton (Crown, [1963]), pp. 56, 58 (ill.).^[58]90

Luigina Rossi Bortolatto, L’opera completa di Claude Monet: 1870–1889, Classici dell’arte 63 (Rizzoli, 1972), pp. 105; 106, cat. 270 (ill.).91

Grace Seiberling, “The Evolution of an Impressionist,” in Paintings by Monet, ed. Susan Wise, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 30.92

Susan Wise, ed., Paintings by Monet, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 118, cat. 64 (ill.).93

Rodolphe Walter, with the assistance of Giuseppe E. Bessone, “Charles Garnier et Claude Monet à Bordighera,” L’oeil 258–59 (Jan.–Feb. 1977), p. 26 (ill.).94

Roger Terry Dunn, “The Monet-Rodin Exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1889” (Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1978), pp. iii; 121; 272, ill. 5.95

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), pp. 23; 114; 115, cat. 854 (ill.); 253, letter 498.96

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 3, Peintures, 1887–1898 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 2, n. 621.97

J. Patrice Marandel, The Art Institute of Chicago: Favorite Impressionist Paintings (Crown, 1979), pp. 58–59 (ill.).98

Diane Kelder, The Great Book of French Impressionism (Abbeville, 1980), p. 211 (ill.).99

Hélène Adhémar, Anne Distel, and Sylvie Gache, Hommage à Claude Monet (1840–1926), exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1980), pp. 256–58, cat. 88 (ill.).100

Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, Claude Monet au temps de Giverny, exh. cat. (Centre Culturel du Marais, 1983), pp. 24; 26–27, fig. 9/cat. 7; 32–33. Translated as Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, Claude Monet at the time of Giverny, exh. cat. (Centre Culturel du Marais, 1983), pp. 24; 26–27, fig. 9/cat. 7; 32–33.101

Robert Gordon and Andrew Forge, Monet (Abrams, 1983), pp. 110 (ill.), 291.102

Art Institute of Chicago, Seibu Museum of Art, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, and Fukuoka Art Museum, eds., Shikago bijutsukan insho-ha ten [The Impressionist tradition: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago], trans. Akihiko Inoue, Hideo Namba, Heisaku Harada, and Yoko Maeda, exh. cat. (Nippon Television Network, 1985), pp. 92, cat. 42 (ill.); 150–51, cat. 42 (ill.).103

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), p. 44, n. 412.104

John House, Monet: Nature into Art (Yale University Press, 1986), pp. 195; 196, pl. 245.105

Richard R. Brettell, French Impressionists (Art Institute of Chicago/Abrams, 1987), pp. 75, 77 (ill.), 118.106

Francesco Arcangeli, Monet (Nuova Alfa, 1989), pp. 55; 119, fig. 45; 155.107

Richard Kendall, ed., Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters, trans. Bridget Strevens Romer (Macdonald Orbis, 1989), pp. 147 (ill.), 319.108

Karin Sagner-Düchting, Claude Monet, 1840–1926: Ein Fest für die Augen (Benedikt Taschen, 1990), p. 137 (ill.). Translated by Karen Williams as Claude Monet, 1840–1926: A Feast for the Eyes (Taschen, 2004), p. 137 (ill.).109

Rachel Barnes, ed., Monet by Monet, Artists by Themselves (Webb & Bower, 1990), pp. 42–43 (ill.).110

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), p. 41.111

Michael Howard, ed., The Impressionists by Themselves: A Selection of Their Paintings, Drawings and Sketches with Extracts from their Writings (Conran Octopus, 1991), p. 249 (ill.).112

Bernd Küster, Monet: Seine Reisen in den Süden (Ellert and Richter, 1992), pp. 24–25, fig. 1.113

Sophie Fourny-Dargère, Monet, Profils de l’art (Chêne, 1992), p. 153, fig. 22.114

Christoph Heinrich, Claude Monet, 1840–1926 (Benedikt Taschen, 1993), pp. 63 (ill.), 95.115

Art Institute of Chicago, Treasures of 19th- and 20th-Century Painting: The Art Institute of Chicago, with an introduction by James. N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Abbeville, 1993), p. 96 (ill.).116

Steven Z. Levine, Monet, Narcissus, and Self-Reflection: The Modernist Myth of the Self (University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 41; fig. 39; 94.117

Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1995), pp. 120; 121, fig. 137.118

Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), pp. 13; 17; 98, cat. 77 (ill.); 210; 215; 237.119

Andrew Forge, Monet, Artists in Focus (Art Institute of Chicago, 1995), pp. 29–31; 33 (detail); 34; 79, pl. 8; 107.120

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vol. 1 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 198, 200 (ill.).121

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 316, cat. 854 (ill.); 319.122

Stephan Koja, Claude Monet, exh. cat. (Österreichische Galerie/Prestel, 1996), pp. 27 (ill.), 100. Translated by John Brownjohn as Claude Monet, exh. cat. (Österreichische Galerie/Prestel, 1996), pp. 26, 27 (ill.).123

Genevieve Morgan, ed., Monet: The Artist Speaks (Collins, 1996), pp. 53 (ill.), 95.124

Helen Dudar, “Monet on the Mediterranean: When Light Meets Water,” Smithsonian (July 1997), p. 81 (detail).125

Joachim Pissarro, Monet and the Mediterranean, exh. cat. (Kimbell Art Museum/Rizzoli, 1997), pp. 31; 37; 74; 76, pl. 4; 182, n. 52.126

Kimbell Art Museum, “Monet and the Mediterranean,” Calendar (Feb.–Aug. 1997), p. 11 (ill.).127

Meyer Schapiro, Impressionism: Reflections and Perceptions (Braziller, 1997), pp. 72, fig. 22; 73; 348.128

Silvia Alborno, Monet: A Bordighera, exh. cat. (Città di Bordighera/Leonardo Periodici, 1998), p. 86 (ill.).129

Matthias Arnold, Claude Monet, Rowohlts Monographien (Rowohlt, 1998), back cover (ill.), pp. 16, 17 (ill.).130

Scott Heller, “The Good, the Bad & the Hard to Look at,” Artnews (Dec. 1998), p. 123 (ill.).131

Kenneth Wayne, Impressions of the Riviera: Monet, Renoir, Matisse and Their Contemporaries, exh. cat. (Portland Museum of Art, 1998), pp. 6, fig. 2; 7; 78, cat. 50.132

Thomas McBurney, Artistic Greatness: A Comparative Exploration of Michelangelo, Beethoven, and Monet (Galde, 1999), p. 287 (ill.).133

Renaud Temperini, “Estetiche della modernità,” in La pittura francese, vol. 3, ed. Pierre Rosenberg, trans. Cosima Campagnolo, Valentina Palombi, and Stefano Salpietro (Electra, 1999), pp. 801, fig. 815; 806.^[59]134

Vanessa Potts, Essential Monet, with an introduction by Claire I. R. O’Mahony (Dempsey Parr/Parragon, 1999), pp. 142–43 (ill.).135

Vivian Russell, Monet’s Landscapes (Frances Lincoln, 2000), pp. 20 (ill.), 160.136

Art Institute of Chicago, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Hudson Hills, 2000), p. 75 (ill.).137

Maria Teresa Benedetti, Monet: I luoghi (Giunti, 2001), p. 177 (ill.).138

Fabrizio d’Amico, “Monet e il Mediterraneo: Da Bordighera ad Antibes,” in Monet: I luoghi della pittura, ed. Marco Goldin, exh. cat. (Linea d’Ombra Libri, 2001), p. 177 (ill.).139

Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami, Kurodo Mone meigashu: Hikari to kaze no kiseki [Claude Monet: 1881–1926], vol. 2 (Nihon Bijutsu Kyoiku Senta, 2001), pp. 52, no. 185 (ill.); 189.140

Richard R. Brettell, From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism, vol. 2 (Teaching Co., 2002), pp. 78, 89, 179.141

Guido Giuffrè, “Monet e l’arte italiana nell’ultimo quarto dell’Ottocento,” in Monet: Atti del convegno, ed. Rodolphe Rapetti, MaryAnne Stevens, Michael Zimmerman, and Marco Goldin (Linea d’Ombra, 2003), p. 22 (ill.).142

Chris Stolwijk, Sjraar van Heugten, Leo Jansen, and Andreas Blühm, eds., Vincent’s Choice: Van Gogh’s Musée Imaginaire, exh. cat. (Van Gogh Museum/Thames & Hudson, 2003), pp. 273, pl. 138; 308.^[60]143

Richard Thomson, “Monet e il mare di Nettuno: Bordighera, 1884. Antibes, 1888,” in L’oro e l’azzurro: I colori del sud da Cézanne a Bonnard, ed. Marco Goldin, trans. Viviana Tonon, exh. cat. (Linea d’Ombra Libri, 2003), pp. 69, 70, 71 (ill.).144

Nienke Bakker, “Chronology: Vincent van Gogh as Connoisseur and Bookworm,” in Vincent’s Choice: Van Gogh’s Musée Imaginaire, ed. Chris Stolwijk, Sjraar van Heugten, Leo Jansen, and Andreas Blühm, exh. cat. (Van Gogh Museum/Thames & Hudson, 2003), p. 305.^[61]145

Eleanor Dwight, ed., The Letters of Pauline Palmer: A Great Lady of Chicago’s First Family (M. T. Train/Scala, 2005), pp. 301 (ill.), 302.146

Birgit Zeidler, Claude Monet: Life and Work, trans. Paul Aston in association with Goodfellow & Egan (Könemann, 2005), p. 58 (ill.).^[62]147

Richard Thomson, “Monet and Neptune’s Sea: Bordighera 1884. Antibes, 1888,” in Right under the Sun: Landscape in Provence, From Classicism to Modernism (1750–1920), ed. Guy Cogeval and Marie-Paule Vial, exh. cat. (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/Snoeck, 2005), pp. 115; 116; 118, fig. 3; 119.148

Guy Cogeval and Marie-Paule Vial, eds., Right under the Sun: Landscape in Provence, From Classicism to Modernism (1750–1920), exh. cat. (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/Snoeck, 2005), p. 259.149

Jesse Matz, “Cultures of Impression,” in Bad Modernisms, ed. Douglas Mao and Rebecca L. Walkowitz (Duke University Press, 2006), pp. 313; 314, fig. 7 (detail).150

Christiane Eluère, Monet et la Riviera (Citadelle & Mazenod, 2006), pp. 46–47, ill. 35; 48; 175, ill. 135.151

Charles F. Stuckey, “Monet’s Path at Cap Martin: Adding a Very Big Piece to the Impressionist Puzzle,” in Wildenstein and Co., Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), pp. 61, 62.152

Sotheby’s, London, Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, sale cat. (Sotheby’s, London, Feb. 5, 2007), pp. 20, fig. 2; 21.153

Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Kimbell Art Museum, 2008), pp. 13; 106–07, cat. 47 (ill.). Simultaneously published as Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2008), pp. 13; 106–07, cat. 47 (ill.).^[63]154

Jon Kear, The Treasures of the Impressionists (Andre Deutsch, 2008), pp. 58 (ill.), 72.155

Susie Hodge, Monet: His Life and Works in 500 Images (Lorenz, 2009), p. 62 (detail).156

Pascal Bonafoux, Monet, peintre de l’eau (Du Chêne/Hachette, 2010), pp. 82 (ill.), 173.157

Manlio Brusatin, “Mediterraneo. La strada dei colori,” in Mediterraneo: Da Courbet a Monet a Matisse, ed. Marco Goldin, exh. cat. (Linea d’Ombra, 2010), p. 65.158

Ségolène Le Men, Monet (Citadelles & Mazenod, 2010), pp. 248–49, ill. 200.159

Claire Maingon and Félicie de Maupeou, La bibliothèque de Monet, under the direction of Ségolène Le Men, exh. cat. (Citadelles & Mazenod, 2013), p. 45 (ill.).160

Labels and Inscriptions

Undated

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with typewritten script
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / artist Claude Monet / title Bordighera / medium oil on canvas / credit Potter Palmer / acc. # 1922.426 / LZ-341-001 1M 1/90 (Rev. 1/90) (fig. 20.46)161

Rectangular white label on a light purple surface displays black text. Top line centered reads “THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO”; below, left-aligned fields list “artist Claude Monet,” “title Bordighera,” “medium oil on canvas,” “credit Potter Palmer,” and “acc. # 1922.426.” A small line of text sits in the bottom-right corner: “LZ-341-001 1M 1/90 (Rev. 1/90).” — Fig. 20.46

Label
Location: stretcher
Method: printed label with handwritten script and green-ink stamp
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60603, U.S.A. / TO Monet, Claude / Bordighera / 1922.426
Stamp: Inventory – 1980–1981 (fig. 20.47)162

Centered on a horizontal strip of medium-brown wood, a white rectangular label sits between areas of brown fabric above and below. The top of the label prints “THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO” and “CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60603, U.S.A.” in black; below, “To Monet, Claude” and “Bordighera” are handwritten in gray-blue, with a pale blue stamp at right reading “Inventory - 1980 - 1981.” Small smudges and a tiny round hole appear on the label’s surface. — Fig. 20.47

Number
Location: stretcher
Method: handwritten script
Content: [in 2 places] 22.426 (fig. 20.48)163

From top left to right, tan fabric is stretched over a brown frame bar with small holes and the number “22.426” written in black; a brass-colored bracket with a screw is near the top right. Down the left side, another brass-colored strap with two screws spans the edge, and the same number appears written vertically on the left frame bar. In the corner, two brown bars meet at a right angle, and along the inner edges runs a gray L-shaped tube with silver coiled springs near both ends and a hexagonal piece at the far right; the background surface is tan fabric with a visible weave. — Fig. 20.48

Post-1980

Label
Location: previous Masonite-type backing board (discarded); transcription in conservation file
Method: not documented
Content: Réunion des musées nationaux Paris / Cat. no. 88 / Hommage à Monet / Galeries nationales du Grand Palais / ? Février–5 mai 1980 (fig. 20.49)164

White background with six lines of black text arranged top to bottom. The lines read: “label on masonite:”, “Réunion des musées nationaux Paris”, “Cat. no. 88”, “Hommage à Monet”, “Galeries nationales du Grand Palais”, and “? février - 5 mai 1980”. — Fig. 20.49

Stamp
Location: stretcher
Method: green-ink stamp
Content: Inventory—1980–1981 (fig. 20.50)165

Top area shows a medium-brown board with visible grain, and a small white rectangular label near the upper left. Across the lower portion of the board is faint black text reading “Inventory: 1980 - 1981” with a black line underneath. On the right edge, a silver-colored corner piece borders the board, and below is a dark background. The label and text are small compared to the width of the board. — Fig. 20.50

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: The Art Institute of Chicago / “Claude Monet: 1840–1926” / July 14, 1995–November 26, 1995 / Catalog: 77 / Bordighera / Bordighera / The Art Institute of Chicago, Potter Palmer Collection / (1922.426) (fig. 20.51)166

A white rectangular label with rounded corners is taped to a pale purple background, centered and filling most of the frame. From top to bottom, black text reads: “The Art Institute of Chicago,” “‘Claude Monet: 1840–1926,’” “July 14, 1995 – November 26, 1995,” then “Catalog: 77.” The word “Bordighera” appears twice below—once in blue underlined text and once in black underlined italic text—followed by “The Art Institute of Chicago, Potter Palmer Collection (1922.426).” Clear tape borders the label edges on all sides. — Fig. 20.51

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with typewritten and handwritten script
Content: Kimbell Art Museum / … serving the Fort Worth/Dallas metropolitan community / 3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard / Fort Worth, Texas 76107-2792 / Crate No. 16 / Monet and the Mediterranean / Kimbell Art Museum, Ft. Worth: 6/8/97–9/14/97 / Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn: 10/10/97–1/4/98 / Claude Monet / Bordighera / Oil on canvas, 1884 / Inv. no. 22.426 / The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (fig. 20.52)167

A white information card fills most of the frame on a light purple surface, printed in black text. Top left reads “Kimbell Art Museum,” and top right lists “3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas 76107-2792” with “Crate No.” and a handwritten red “16.” Center text states “Monet and the Mediterranean,” followed by venues and dates: “Kimbell Art Museum, Ft. Worth: 6/8/97–9/14/97” and “Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn: 10/10/97–1/4/98.” The lower section lists artwork details: “Claude Monet, Bordighera, Oil on canvas, 1884, Inv. no. 22.426, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.” — Fig. 20.52

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: Portland Museum of Art / Seven Congress Square, Portland, Maine 04101 (207) 775-6148 / Claude Monet / France, 1840–1926 / Bordighera, 1884 / oil on canvas / 25 ½ × 32 in. / The Art Institute of Chicago. Potter Palmer Collection, / 1922.426. / Impressions of the Riviera: Monet, Renoir, Matisse, and /their Contemporaries / June 25–October 18, 1998 (fig. 20.53)168

A white rectangular museum label with black text sits on a light purple background; at the top it reads “Portland Museum of Art,” followed by “Seven Congress Square, Portland, Maine 04101” and “(207)775-6148,” with a thin horizontal line underneath. The middle section lists “Claude Monet; France, 1840–1926; Bordighera, 1884; oil on canvas; 25 1/2 x 32 in.; The Art Institute of Chicago. Potter Palmer Collection, 1922.426.” The bottom section reads “Impressions of the Riviera: Monet, Renoir, Matisse, and their Contemporaries” and “June 25 – October 18, 1998.” — Fig. 20.53

Examination and Analysis Techniques

X-radiography

Westinghouse X-ray unit, scanned on Epson Expressions 10000XL flatbed scanner. Scans digitally composited by Robert G. Erdmann, University of Arizona.169

Infrared Reflectography

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm); Inframetrics Infracam with 1.5–1.73 µm filter.170

Transmitted Infrared

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm).171

Visible Light

Natural-light, raking-light, and transmitted-light overalls and macrophotography: Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter.172

Ultraviolet

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter and Kodak Wratten 2E filter.173

High-Resolution Visible Light (and Ultraviolet)

Sinar P3 camera with Sinarback eVolution 75 H (PECA 918 UV/IR interference cut filter and Kodak Wratten 2E filter).174

Microscopy and Photomicrographs

Sample and cross-sectional analysis using a Zeiss Axioplan2 research microscope equipped with reflected light/UV fluorescence and a Zeiss AxioCam MRc5 digital camera. Types of illumination used: darkfield, differential interference contrast (DIC), and UV. In situ photomicrographs with a Wild Heerbrugg M7A StereoZoom microscope fitted with an Olympus DP71 microscope digital camera.175

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)

Several spots on the painting were analyzed in situ with a Bruker/Keymaster TRACeR III-V with rhodium tube.176

Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM)

Zeiss Universal research microscope.177

Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)

Cross sections analyzed after carbon coating with a Hitachi S-3400N-II VP-SEM with Oxford EDS and a Hitachi solid-state BSE detector. Analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental (NUANCE) Center, Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC) facility.178

Automated Thread Counting

Thread count and weave information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software.^[64]179

Image Registration Software

Overlay images registered using a novel image-based algorithm developed by Damon M. Conover (GW), John K. Delaney (GW, NGA), and Murray H. Loew (GW) of the George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.^[65]180

Image Inventory

The image inventory compiles records of all known images of the artwork on file in the Conservation Department, the Imaging Department, and the Department of Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 20.54).181

Fig. 20.54
Location/Negative #	Format	Purpose	Date	Lighting, Notes
S1569			Unknown
M7335			Unknown
E10347			Unknown	Normal, overall
Conservation	35 mm color slide	Posttreatment	Unknown	Normal, overall
C24374	B&W negative		1959	Normal, overall
Conservation	35 mm color slide	Midtreatment	Nov. 1965	Normal, overall; cleaning test
C30835	B&W negative	After cleaning	Mar. 3, 1966	Normal, overall; after cleaning?
Conservation	35 mm color slide		Aug. 1978	Normal, detail: buildings
132151	Digital	Loan exam	Nov. 2008	Annotated image E10347
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 19, 2010	Detail images of verso, labels (7 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 20, 2010	Normal, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 20, 2010	Raking light, overall (2 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 20, 2010	Ultraviolet, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 20, 2010	Infrared (Fuji, 1000B/2 mm filter), overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 20, 2010	Transmitted light, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 20, 2010	Macro details (16 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 20, 2010	X-ray films scanned/digitally composited, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Jan. 29, 2010	Photomicrographs of surface (22 total)
G33257	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Normal, overall
G33258	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Ultraviolet, overall
G33259	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Normal, detail: left side
G33260	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Normal, detail: village
G33261	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Normal, detail: right side
G33262	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Normal, detail: signature
G33263	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Normal, frame
G33264	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 8, 2010	Painting and frame (composite of G33257 and G33263)
G39108	Digital	OSCI	Mar. 5, 2012	Normal, overall; composite of G39959–G39974
G39959–G39974	Digital	OSCI	Mar. 5, 2012	Sections (16 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Mar. 7, 2012	Transmitted infrared (Fuji, 1000B/2 mm filter), overall
G40478	Digital	OSCI	Sept. 11, 2012	Ultraviolet, overall

Notes

Bordighera (W854) corresponds to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 316, cat. 854 (ill.); 319. The Art Institute currently uses the title that was given to the painting when it was exhibited in March 1905 at Copley Hall, Boston. The painting had the following titles during the lifetime of the artist:
Mar. 1905: Bordighera (Copley Society of Boston, Loan Collection of Paintings by Claude Monetand Eleven Sculptures by Auguste Rodin, exh. cat. [Copley Hall, 1905], p. 15, cat. 18.)
July 1910: Antibes (Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings from the Collection of Mrs. Potter Palmer, exh. cat. [Art Institute of Chicago, 1910], cat. 33.)
Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 210. See also Ségolène Le Men, Monet (Citadelles & Mazenod, 2010), p. 248. Le Men considers Monet’s three-month stay in the Italian Riviera in 1884 the first of many similar trips outside of France where he was “depaysé,” a state of being that required an additional layer of orientation, of seizing what was the essential of the countryside and its elements, before he could paint, but which meant that he was as he had hoped to always be, seeing nature afresh with “l’oeil naïf.”
Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 210. See also Monet to Paul Durand-Ruel, Jan. 12, 1884, in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 232, letter 388.
In a letter to Paul Durand-Ruel dated Jan. 23, 1884, Monet mentioned his switch from one residence or hotel to the Pension Anglaise after a few days. In Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), pp. 232–33, letter 391. On the Pension Anglaise, see Christiane Eluère, Monet et la Riviera (Citadelle et Mazenod, 2006), pp. 35–38.
Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1995), p. 120.
See Provenance; and Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 317, cat. 852 (ill.) and cat. 853 (ill.); 318; 319. Of the forty-five paintings brought back from his Riviera trip, twenty-one were purchased by Durand–Ruel for 18,200 francs, including the two other versions. See Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1995), pp. 120; 231, n. 36. It is also possible that Monet preferred to hold on to the Art Institute canvas. According to Wildenstein, twenty-two paintings were sold to Durand-Ruel. Thirteen are listed in a letter from Monet to Paul Durand-Ruel dated May 30, five of which had already been delivered. Nine are listed in a letter to Durand-Ruel dated June 14 (which were delivered on June 12). All sold for a total of 18,300 francs. See Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 253, letters 498 and 503.
Although the Art Institute’s canvas was not listed in the catalogue, it can be identified as the picture exhibited based on Geffroy’s description and commendation. Gustave Geffroy, “Salon de 1887. Hors du Salon: Claude Monet,” La justice, pt. 2, June 2, 1887, p. 1, translation in Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of French Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2010), p. 117.
Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 210, fig. 45. Joachim Pissarro also mentions a connection between these views of Bordighera and Cézanne’s work. See Joachim Pissarro,Monet and the Mediterranean, exh. cat. (Kimbell Art Museum/Rizzoli, 1997), p. 74. Stuckey goes further, suggesting that the absence of attention given to Monet’s dialogue with Cézanne around the time of the Bordighera campaign is a gap in the history of Impressionism. See Charles F. Stuckey, “Monet’s Path at Cap Martin: Adding a Very Big Piece to the Impressionist Puzzle,” in Wildenstein and Co., Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff , exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), pp. 55–66.
As Monet wrote to Alice on Jan. 26, 1884, “On peut se promener indéfiniment sous les palmiers, les orangers et les citronniers et aussi sous les admirable oliviers, mais quand on cherche les motifs, c’est très difficile.” See Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 233, letter 394.
Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 210, quoting from a letter from Monet to Duret, reproduced in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 235, letter 403: “C’est terriblement difficile, il faudrait une palette de diamants et de pierreries. Quant au bleu et au rose, il y en a ici.”
For more on Francesco Moreno and his garden in Bordighera, see Christiane Eluère, Monet et la Riviera (Citadelle & Mazenod, 2006), pp. 60–70.
Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 210, quoting from a letter from Monet to Alice Hoschedé, Feb. 5, [1884], in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 236, letter 407: “un jardin comme cela ne ressemble à rien, c’est de la pure féerie.”
Monet delivered the painting on November 17, 1884, to Morisot’s new home on the rue Villejust, in the Sixteenth Arrondissement, in what was then known as the Passy district of Paris. See Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), pp. 210, fig. 45; 211; and Charles F. Stuckey, “Monet’s Path at Cap Martin: Adding a Very Big Piece to the Impressionist Puzzle,” in Wildenstein and Co., Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), p. 58. For a digital presentation of Monet’s sketchbooks from the Musée Marmottan Monet, presented by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, see http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/monet/sketchbooks. The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996); the number preceded by a D refers to drawings in the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1991).
“This tower, of Roman origin, and still in excellent preservation, served as an ‘avisium’ or watch-tower in the Middle Ages. From it is obtained a delightful view of part of the coast.” As described in C. B. Black, The South of France, East Half, including the Valleys of the Rhône, Drôme and Durance . . . and the Passes between France and Italy, 4th ed. (Adam and Charles Black, 1885), p. 201.
See C. B. Black, The South of France, East Half, including the Valleys of the Rhône, Drôme and Durance . . . and the Passes between France and Italy, 4th ed. (Adam and Charles Black, 1885), p. 201.
Charles Garnier’s description of Bordighera was included by Frederick Fitzroy Hamilton in his 1883 guidebook Bordighera et la Ligurie occidentale. Hamilton indicates in the 1883 guide that Les motifs artistiques de Bordighera was previously published in two successive editions of his guidebook, Bordighera in gennaio, vade mecum del forestiere. See Charles Garnier, “Artistic Features of Bordighera,” in Bordighera and the Western Riviera, ed. Frederick Fitzroy Hamilton, trans. Alfred C. Dowson (E. Stanford, 1883), p. 336.
Charles Garnier, “Artistic Features of Bordighera,” in Bordighera and the Western Riviera, ed. Frederick Fitzroy Hamilton, trans. Alfred C. Dowson (E. Stanford, 1883), p. 340.
The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis,vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996)
(See Technical Report.) Changing the composition so that the trees would not block the view and making the sea appear more prominent corroborates the artist’s frustration at not being able to see the sea to paint it. As he commented to Alice in a letter from January 27, “and the sea always and even still more blue; no, it cannot be described. As to painting it, one must not think of it, these are effects of too short duration which cannot be found again.” See Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 234, letter 395, translated in Steven Z. Levine, Monet, Narcissus, and Self-Reflection: The Modernist Myth of the Self (University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 40.
While Monet depicts pine trees in the Chicago picture, the region was most noted for its olive, lemon, and palm trees. See C. B. Black, The South of France, East Half, including the Valleys of the Rhône, Drôme and Durance . . . and the Passes between France and Italy, 4th ed. (Adam and Charles Black, 1885), p. 201, which notes, “The great feature of Bordighera are its plantations of palms, whose tufted tops wave above the more lowly lemon trees laden with pale yellow fruit, while the whole of the background is crowded with vigorous olive trees. Some of the palms are 800 years old. The lemon, after the olive, is the most profitable tree.”
See Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882–1886 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 252, letter 489. On Monet’s final work on the canvases back in his Giverny studio, see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vol. 1 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 201.
For an overview of the materials and methods of Claude Monet’s paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, see Kimberley Muir, Inge Fiedler, Don H. Johnson, and Robert G. Erdmann, “An In-depth Study of the Materials and Technique of Paintings by Claude Monet from the Art Institute of Chicago,” ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Meeting Preprints, Melbourne, Sept. 15–19, 2014 (forthcoming).
Using the toolbar at the bottom right, any two images of the painting may be selected for comparison by clicking the layers icon to the right of the slider bar. The slider bar may be moved to transition back and forth between the two chosen images. The jagged line icon brings up a list of available annotations, or colored lines that show the significant features visible in each image, which may be turned on or off in any combination. For example, the red annotation lines, associated with the natural-light image, trace some of the painting’s key compositional features. When overlaid onto a technical image (X-ray, raking light, UV, etc.), the red outlines help the viewer to better observe how features in the technical image relate to or diverge from the painting as seen with the naked eye. (When annotations are turned on, a legend appears in the upper right showing each color and its associated image type.) The circular arrow icon returns the image to the default settings (natural light, full-image view, natural-light [red] annotation on). The four-arrow icon toggles between the view of the image in the page and a full-screen view of the image. In the upper right corner, the vertical slider bar may be moved to zoom into or out of the image; different parts of the image can be accessed by clicking and dragging within the image itself. The icon in the upper left corner opens a small view of the full image, within which a red box indicates the portion of the overall image being viewed when zooming is enabled.
XRF analysis, in conjunction with microscopic examination of the painting surface, indicates that the paint mixture includes lead white, viridian, vermilion, and iron oxides. The dark hue, in combination with the detection by XRF of traces of calcium, could indicate the presence of bone black; other pigments may also be present. See Kimberley Muir, “Mon_Bordigh_22_426_XRF_Results,” Aug. 4, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
As observed in several other Monet paintings examined for this project, the corners and edges of his canvases were often left in a more sketchy state, with areas of ground left exposed. John House, Monet: Nature into Art (Yale University Press, 1988), p. 171, notes that “Monet’s stepson J.-P. Hoschedé … insisted on several occasions that, in the studio, ‘[Monet] signed his pictures and painted the edges of his canvases which he tended not to paint right up to their margins.’”
Flax was confirmed by microscopic cross-sectional fiber identification. See Inge Fiedler, “1922_426_Monet_analytical_report,” May 16, 2014, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See, for example, the chart of standard sizes available from Bourgeois Aîné in 1888, reproduced in David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism, exh. cat.(National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), p. 46, fig. 31.
Thread count and weave information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software; see Don H. Johnson and Robert G. Erdmann, “Thread Count Report: Claude Monet, Bordighera (W854/1922.426),” Oct. 2011.
The stronger cusping on the right edge may be primary cusping, related to the attachment of the larger piece of canvas (from which this canvas was cut) to the commercial priming frame (see Ground Application).
The presence of a sizing layer is difficult to determine from cross sections due to previous conservation treatment.
In areas where a double application was indicated, the composition appears to be similar in both regions. The ground layer was analyzed using SEM/EDX, PLM, and XRF. See Inge Fiedler, “1922_426_Monet_analytical_report,” May 16, 2014; Inge Fiedler, “1922_426_Monet_PLM_results,” May 16, 2014; and Kimberley Muir, “Mon_Bordigh_22_426_XRF_Results,” Aug. 4, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
The pigments were identified by the following methods: lead white, cadmium yellow, vermilion, emerald green, viridian, cobalt blue (PLM, SEM/EDX, XRF); chrome yellow (PLM, XRF); red lake, ultramarine blue (PLM). XRF detected traces of iron throughout the painting; however, further analysis would be required to determine the source. Analysis was carried out on selected areas and may not include all pigments present in the painting. Paint scrapings taken in 1976 were reexamined by PLM in 2013. For detailed results and conditions used, see Inge Fiedler, “1922_426_Monet_analytical_report,” May 16, 2014; Inge Fiedler, “1922_426_Monet_PLM_Results,” Nov. 13, 2013; and Kimberley Muir, “Mon_Bordighera_22_426_XRF_Results,” Aug. 4, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Identifying the specific type of lake used only by its fluorescence under UV is difficult, as many factors, including the type of substrate, binders, varnishes, and admixtures with other pigments, can ultimately affect the perceived color of the fluorescence. Some types of madder and purpurin lake pigments have been reported to fluoresce orange, but other lakes, such as lacs, may fluoresce as well. The characteristics of red lakes, including their fluorescence under UV, are discussed in Helmut Schweppe and John Winter, “Madder and Alizarin,” in Artists’ Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, ed. Elisabeth West FitzHugh, vol. 3 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1997), pp. 124–26. See also Ruth Johnston-Feller, Color Science in the Examination of Museum Objects: Nondestructive Procedures (Getty Conservation Institute, 2001), p. 207.
The binding medium was not analyzed. The estimation of an oil medium is based on visual examination, as well as on knowledge of Monet’s technique and published analyses of Monet paintings in other collections. See, for example, David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), pp. 72–75.
“Interdepartmental memo,” n.d.: “on list—Pictures from the Potter Palmer Collection cleaned and varnished by Hammond Smith April 20, 1922 listed as Antibes—from P. Palmer Collection Exh. Cat.,” on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Louis Pomerantz, examination report, June 28, 1957, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Alfred Jakstas, examination report, Aug. 30, 1965, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Alfred Jakstas, examination report, Mar. 24, 1966, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Kirk Vuillemot, “Monet Frame Descriptions Final,” Dec. 3, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Kirk Vuillemot, “Monet Frame Descriptions Final,” Dec. 3, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 316, cat. 854 (ill.); 319.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 316, cat. 854 (ill.); 319.
This painting was on loan from the Palmer family to the Art Institute of Chicago, intermittently, by 1921, according to Museum Registration department artists sheets on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 3, Peintures, 1887–1898 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), pp. 2, n. 621; 3, n. 631. The painting was exhibited but was not included in the exhibition catalogue. See Gustave Geffroy, “Salon de 1887. Hors du Salon: Claude Monet,” La justice, pt. 2 (June 2, 1887), p. 1.
The exhibition catalogue does not list dates for the exhibition. For dates see Art Institute of Chicago, “Approaching Exhibitions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 3, 4 (Apr. 1910), p. 51, which lists the original dates as May 10–June 8. A subsequent publication notes that the exhibition was extended to November; see Art Institute of Chicago, “Announcement: The Art Institute of Chicago: Exhibitions, Lectures, Musicales, Receptions, Etc., for the Season of 1910–11,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 4, 2 (Oct. 1910), p. 23.
The exhibition catalogue lists the dates as June 1–November 1, 1933, but newspaper articles confirm that the exhibition opened on May 23. See India Moffett, “Art Show of 1,500 World Famous Treasures Is Opened at Institute,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 23, 1933, p. 17; and Virginia Gardner, “Record Throng of 1,367,000 Views Art Show,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 29, 1933, p. 7.
The exhibition catalogue lists the dates as June 1–November 1, 1934, but newspaper articles confirm that the exhibition closed on October 31. See “Fair Art Exhibition Closes Forever at 5:30 This Afternoon,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 31, 1934, p. 2; and “Shippers Start Dismantling Art Exhibition Today,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 1, 1934, p. 3.
Toledo Museum of Art, Catalogue: French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, exh. cat. (Toledo Museum of Art, 1934), lists the exhibition dates as November 1934. Shipping out order 19801, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago, indicates that the exhibition dates were November 4–25, 1934.
According to shipping out order A1280, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; and receipt of objects 13312, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition catalogue is printed in Art Institute of Chicago, “Catalogue,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), pp. 33–34. Under “Exhibitions” in the same issue, the exhibition dates were listed as April 1–30 (p. 36); however, the show was extended until June 15. See Edith Weigle, “The Wonderful World of Art,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 26, 1957, p. E2, for an exhibition review and reference to the extension of the length of the show. The April 1957 issue of the Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly was largely dedicated to the Monet works in the Art Institute’s collection. The exhibition marked the first time the Art Institute’s thirty Monet paintings were shown together in the museum.
See Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, Claude Monet at the time of Giverny, exh. cat. (Centre culturel du Marais, 1983), which lists the exhibition dates as April 6–July 31, 1983.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 316, cat. 854 (ill.); 319.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 316, cat. 854 (ill.); 319.
Reprinted in Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, and Paintings, pt. 2, Paintings (Art Institute of Chicago, 1923), p. 68, cat. 830.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 316, cat. 854 (ill.); 319.
Reprinted in Kenneth Clark, Landscape into Art (Harper & Row, 1976), pp. xiv; pl. 101; 176.
Reprinted in Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1968), p. 319.
Originally published as Yvon Taillandier, Monet (Flammarion, 1962).
Reprinted in Renaud Temperini, “Esthétiques de la Modernité,” in La peinture française, vol. 2, ed. Pierre Rosenberg (Mengès, 2001), pp. 749 (ill.), 750.
Also published as Chris Stolwijk, Sjraar van Heugten, Leo Jansen, and Andreas Blühm, eds., Van Gogh’s Imaginary Museum: Exploring the Artist’s Inner World, exh. cat. (Van Gogh Museum/Abrams, 2003), pp. 273, pl. 138; 308.
Also published as Nienke Bakker, “Chronology: Vincent van Gogh as connoisseur and bookworm,” in Van Gogh’s Imaginary Museum: Exploring the Artist’s Inner World, ed. Chris Stolwijk, Sjraar van Heugten, Leo Jansen, and Andreas Blühm, exh. cat. (Van Gogh Museum/Abrams, 2003), p. 305.
Originally published as Birgit Zeidler, Claude Monet: Leben und Werk (Könemann, 1998).
The latter was republished as Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of French Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago, rev. and expanded ed. (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2010; repr. 2013), pp. 13; 116–17, cat. 56 (ill.).
See Don H. Johnson, C. Richard Johnson, G. Klein, William A. Sethares, H. Lee, and Ella Hendriks, “A Thread Counting Algorithm for Art Forensics,” 2009 IEEE Thirteenth Digital Signal Processing and Fifth IEEE Signal Processing Education Workshop (IEEE, 2009), pp. 679–84; doi:10.1109/DSP.2009.4786009.
See Damon M. Conover, John K. Delaney, Paola Ricciardi, and Murray H. Loew, “Towards automatic registration of technical images of works of art,” in Computer Vision and Image Analysis of Art II, ed. David G. Stork, James Coddington, and Anna Bentkowska-Kafel, Proc. SPIE 7869 (SPIE/IS&T, 2011), doi:10.1117/12.872634.

How to Cite

Entry by Gloria Groom; Technical Report by Kimberley Muir and Kirk Vuillemot, “Cat. 20 Bordighera, 1884,” in Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, ed. Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw, rev. ed. (2014; repr., Art Institute of Chicago, 2026), https://doi.org/10.53269/9780865592698/17.

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