Cat. 45  Venice, Palazzo Dario, 1908

Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago

Top section shows tall waterfront buildings; the center front is light cream with pink and blue accents and rows of arched openings and round patterns, with darker buildings to the left and right. Across the middle, a small black gondola rests along the base of the center building near an arched doorway. The bottom half is blue‑green water with streaks of purple and yellow that mirror the colors above. The large buildings fill most of the scene and make the narrow boat look small.

Cat. 45

Venice, Palazzo Dario^[1]
1908
Oil on canvas; 66.2 × 81.8 cm (26 1/16 × 32 3/16 in.)
Signed and dated: Claude Monet 1908 (lower left, in red paint)
The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.446

Technical Report
Provenance
Exhibition History
Selected References
Other Documentation

Monet’s Venice

Venice, Palazzo Dario was the product of Claude Monet’s only trip to Venice, in early October to early December 1908. Monet was reluctant to visit the city, likely because it had been featured so prominently throughout the history of art and had been treated by mentors, colleagues, and friends such as J. M. W. Turner, James McNeill Whistler, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and John Singer Sargent.^[2] At age sixty-eight, however, Monet may have assumed he would not have another opportunity to travel there, so he allowed himself to be convinced by his second wife, Alice, to accept an invitation from Mary Hunter, a British socialite, patron of the arts, and acquaintance of Sargent, who had probably introduced them when Monet was in London in 1900 and 1901 (see cats. 38–41).^[3] Hunter was staying at the Palazzo Barbaro, a fifteenth-century palace situated on the Grand Canal. Purchased by the wealthy American couple Ariana and Daniel Curtis in 1885, it became a gathering place for writers, musicians, and artists like Sargent, who in 1899 painted a portrait of the Curtis family in the salon of the palazzo; its architecture also served as the inspiration for the museum that Isabella Stewart Gardner built in Boston in 1903.^[4] In mid-September 1908 Hunter had arranged to stay there while Mrs. Curtis was attending to the estate of her husband.^[5] The Monets lodged there for two weeks before moving to the posh Hôtel Britannia, one of the most expensive hotels in the city.1

The two-month trip transformed Monet’s opinion of Venice and galvanized his desire to paint the city. He began thirty-seven paintings, including the Art Institute’s Venice, Palazzo Dario, and even hoped to continue his work on another trip. He wrote his friend, the art critic Gustave Geffroy on the final day of his stay, of his planned return: “Well! [My enthusiasm for Venice] has done nothing but grow, and the moment has now come to leave this unique light. I grow very sad. It is so beautiful, but one has to see reason: many factors force us to return home. The only consolation I have is the thought of coming back here next year, for I have been able to do nothing but sketches, beginnings. But what a dreadful shame that I did not come here when I was young and would dare anything! Anyway . . . I have spent some delightful moments here and nearly forgot that I am the old man that I am!”^[6]2

Venetian Struggle

Monet’s profound change of attitude toward the city can be tracked through Alice’s letters to her daughter Germaine Salerou, in which she recorded their activities on a near-daily basis. Upon their arrival, Monet declared the city “too beautiful to be painted,” she recounted; he would not even take out his brushes because the environment was “not renderable.”^[7] By October 19, however, Alice relayed that Monet had finally decided to paint; shortly after that, the artist was already writing to his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, that he was looking forward to returning to Venice the following year to continue serious work on his chosen motifs.^[8]3

In her letters Alice also chronicled the struggles that plagued Monet throughout the Venice trip, including fluctuating weather conditions that frustrated him, as well as moments of self-doubt. Nonetheless, the Venice sojourn proved to be productive for the artist. He set up a regimented work schedule, painting between 7:45 and 8:00 in the morning until mid- to late-afternoon. Their visit also lasted much longer than they had anticipated, as evidenced by the Art Institute’s canvas. Monet had to supplement the stock of supplies he had shipped from home, presumably because he was painting more than he had originally intended. Palazzo Dario was painted on a canvas Monet purchased from Venetian art supplier Emilio Aickelin (see Technical Report/Manufacturer’s/supplier’s marks).^[9] The artist also acquired from Aickelin the sketchbook in which his only known drawing from Venice appears (fig. 45.1 [D404r]).^[10]4

Alt text for the image — Fig. 45.1

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). Inside cover of Monet’s sketchbook with art supplier label (*top*) and folio 1 (*bottom*) featuring *Palazzo Dario at Venice*, 1908. Lithograph and pencil on paper; page, 9.5 × 14.5 cm (3 3/4 × 5 11/16 in.). Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, inv. no. 5135. Giraudon/Bridgeman Images.

The Venice suite was not a formal exercise in reproducing near-identical subject matter subtly altered to reflect differences in season or lighting, as exemplified in Stacks of Wheat (see cats. 28–32), which he had executed over fifteen years earlier. Referring to his paintings of Venice, Monet himself observed that “there was not a series among the views, just different motifs repeated one, two, or three times.”^[11] The works from this trip can be organized into ten subgroups, with subjects including the Grand Canal (fig. 45.2 [W1738]), the Palazzo Ducale (fig. 45.3 [W1743]), the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore (fig. 45.4 [W1749]), and the Rio de la Salute (fig. 45.5 [1763]), painted from varying viewpoints.^[12] The Art Institute’s Venice, Palazzo Dario fits into a subgroup of frontally viewed palaces located on the Grand Canal; in addition to the Palazzo Dario, the subjects included the Palazzo da Mula (fig. 45.6 [W1764]) and the Palazzo Contarini (fig. 45.7 [W1767]).^[13] All the sites Monet selected were easily accessible from his lodgings, and it is no surprise that every picture from this trip involves the depiction of water, a standard element in conventional treatments of Venice as well as a recurring interest in Monet’s oeuvre.5

Figs. 45.2–45.7

Top third shows a pale blue sky with hints of pink and yellow. Across the middle from center to right, large domed and rectangular buildings in blue, purple, and orange stand behind the water. Lower half is green-blue water with ripples and streaked reflections in yellow, pink, and purple. From left edge to center, several vertical posts rise from the water, including one thick, dark-blue post near the center that is tallest. — Fig. 45.2

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Grand Canal, Venice*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 73.7 × 92.4 cm (29 × 36 3/8 in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Bequest of Alexander Cochrane, 19.171. Photograph © 2014 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Top shows a light blue-purple sky. Middle features a large pale cream building occupying most of the width, with a row of dark arches at ground level and a band of tall pointed windows above; a single tall column stands at the far left, and a darker rectangular building sits farther back on the right. Bottom half is rippling water in blue, purple, and yellow, reflecting the building’s colors. — Fig. 45.3

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *The Doge’s Palace (Le Palais ducal)*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 81.3 × 99.1 cm (32 × 39 in.). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of A. Augustus Healy, 20.634.

At the top, pale blue sky with hints of pink and yellow sits above a distant shoreline. Across the middle, light pink and green buildings include a tall narrow tower left of center and a domed building with a triangular front near the center, with lower structures extending to the right edge. In the foreground, blue-gray water fills over half the scene, with three small dark boats: one long narrow boat left of center, and two smaller boats toward the right. The large buildings appear far away, making the boats look small by comparison. — Fig. 45.4

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 65 × 92 cm (25 1/2 × 36 1/4 in.). Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Lockton Collection, 70.76.

Top area shows a light blue sky with a cluster of dark green leaves at the upper right. On the left, a tall orange and pink building with white balconies stands beside a narrow canal, while a lighter yellow wall or building lines the right side. In the center background, a small arched bridge crosses the water; below it, ripples in blue, purple, and green fill the lower portion. Near the bridge on the right side of the canal, a small dark blue boat rests close to the wall. — Fig. 45.5

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Le Rio de la Salute*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 80.9 × 64.7 cm (31.9 × 25.5 in.). Christie’s, New York, May 06, 2008, lot 17. Photograph © Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images.

At the top, a tall waterside building spans the scene, with rows of arches and windows in soft blue, teal, and lavender. Across the middle, two large arched openings meet the water, flanked by slim posts, and a long narrow dark boat sits in front, small compared with the broad facade. At the bottom, rippling water in green and turquoise fills the lower third, with patches of purple and yellow reflected across its surface. — Fig. 45.6

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Palazzo da Mula, Venice*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 61.4 × 80.5 cm (24 3/16 × 31 11/16 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.182.

Top half shows the front of a large waterside building in purple and blue, with tall narrow arched windows and a central doorway beneath a short light-colored balcony. Across the middle, several thin red poles stand in front, and a long, dark, narrow boat with a curved front sits near the waterline. Bottom half is blue-green water with soft ripples, reflecting touches of purple and red; the building looms large behind the smaller boat and poles. — Fig. 45.7

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *The Palazzo Contarini*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 92 × 81 cm (36 1/4 × 31 7/8 in.). Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, von der Ernst Schürpf-Stiftung erworben 1950. Photographer: Sebastian Stadler, courtesy Kunstmuseum St. Gallen.

Creating Tension

Monet’s effort to represent Venice, a city that seemed to float on water, is particularly striking in his paintings of palaces like Venice, Palazzo Dario. His decision to dedicate most of the bottom half of his palazzo paintings to the canal forced him to cut off the upper floors of the structures as well as the sky, which is only visible, if at all, as slivers between buildings down the narrow openings of the waterway. Octave Mirbeau’s preface to the 1912 catalogue that accompanied the first exhibition of these paintings celebrates the interplay of the light off the buildings and the waters of the canal: “The reflections pile up. One would say that the water and light gain support and strength on the façades . . . The reflection of the palaces is warm in the dense water. When the sun is high the atmosphere applies itself and sumptuously gives body to the vertical surface of the walls and the horizontal surface of the water; it is mixed with the color as though it had passed through the rose of a stained-glass window.”^[14]6

Although Mirbeau’s poetic commentary suggests that the juxtaposition of the palaces and the canal waters is complementary, a tension undeniably exists in these palazzo pictures: the water and the architecture compete for space on the canvas. This is amplified by Monet’s experimentation with the formats of the works: the depictions of the Palazzo Dario and the Palazzo Contarini (see fig. 45.7) are the only ones that employ both vertically and horizontally oriented canvases. In their first exhibition at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris in 1912 (fig. 45.8 [W1758]) and fig. 45.9 [W1759]), the Art Institute’s horizontal Venice, Palazzo Dario was exhibited alongside the two vertically oriented works of the same subject.^[15] His compositional choices were also consistent throughout his working process—the one extant sketch Monet made of the Palazzo Dario features the same crowded composition, despite the fact that he had more room to expand the image on the page of the sketchbook (fig. 45.1, bottom).7

Top section shows a tall, light-colored building with rows of arched windows and circular decorations in soft blue, pink, and purple. To the left is part of another facade with pointed arches in pink and lavender; to the right, a narrow darker wall with a thin vertical post. Across the center, a long, low black boat rests on the water, appearing small against the large building. The foreground is rippling water in shades of blue, green, and purple, filling the lower half and reflecting the structures above. — Fig. 45.8

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *The Palazzo Dario*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 92.3 × 73.2 cm (36 3/8 × 28 13/16). National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, The Davies Sisters Collection, NMW A 2481. Bridgeman Images.

Rippling green water with patches of purple and blue fills the lower half. Near the center, a long dark boat rests in front of a large pale building. In the background, the multi-story façade spans most of the scene with rows of tall arched openings and round motifs in blue, purple, and pink, while darker buildings frame it on the left and right and a strip of light sky appears at the upper right. — Fig. 45.9

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Palazzo Dario*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 81 × 66 cm (31.9 × 26 in.). Sold, Sotheby’s, New York, Nov. 7, 2007, lot 13.

The art historian Paul Tucker has suggested that Monet mystifies the elaborately designed and ornately decorated structures in the palazzo pictures, the solid, marble façades of which seem to nearly float above the canal’s waters.^[16] Tucker has also proposed that in his paintings of Venice more generally, Monet was engaging with modernist concerns. Fighting against the picturesque and cliché views by amateur artists of Venice that had proliferated with increased tourism to the city, Tucker suggests that Monet was trying to reinstate art historical weight to its motifs.^[17] By turning hackneyed subjects into studies of abstract geometry and flattened planes, Monet was attempting to reinvigorate the treatment of the city that had been so important to the history of art.^[18]8

Monet’s unique viewpoint was certainly the result of his calculated selection of the locations from which he painted. Wildenstein suggests that Monet set up his easel on the opposite bank of the Grand Canal, slightly to the east of the Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Grande (the prefecture).^[19] But Monet’s unusual, and rather low, viewpoint was likely also due to the fact that he was working in a gondola. Notably, in a letter to her daughter dated November 9, 1908, Alice recorded that although that particular day had been foggy, wet, and cold, Monet—under the shelter of a covered gondola—was able to paint one of the palaces.^[20] It may have been the frame of the gondola cabin’s window that informed the way in which Monet composed his palazzo paintings.9

Gondola Memories

The gondola was a recurrent theme in Alice’s correspondence home. As the art historian Stephen Eisenman has noted, “Alice was prone to additional dark reflections during the couple’s weeks in Venice. She compared their canopied, black gondola—Monet’s floating studio—to a catafalque, and brooded about being separated from the tomb of her long-dead daughter [Suzanne Hoschedé Butler].”^[21] But more often, Alice wrote about how much she enjoyed the couple’s enchanting gondola rides, which they took for both pleasure and work. She raved about the incredible skies they would see during their leisurely sunset boat trips, but also, in recounting their rigid daily routine, Alice told her daughter that she regularly accompanied Monet in the gondola while he worked, an activity that required her to remain extremely still.^[22]10

Monet told the Bernheim-Jeune brothers that he would personally like to keep one of the Palazzo Dario series as a souvenir of “such happy days passed with my dear Alice.”^[23] One wonders whether Monet was specifically reminiscing about the gondolas, for they were indeed critical components of Monet’s paintings, particularly Venice, Palazzo Dario. All depictions of the structure include one large gondola at center, which—because the building itself is always slightly off center—becomes the grounding force in the disorientingly cropped scenes.11

But while the gondola is an anchor in the Art Institute’s painting, it is also one of the components that may have changed significantly. Most, if not all, of the works begun in Venice required significant reworking back in his Giverny studio. These revisions certainly involved the aid of memory, imagination, and even fabrication, since they were not completed until years later, just before the 1912 exhibition, an interruption primarily due to the illness and death of Alice in 1911.^[24] Venice, Palazzo Dario indeed reveals evidence of Monet’s multiple sessions: a trace of an earlier signature and date underneath his final one suggests that he had considered the work finished in a previous session but then went back in, made adjustments, and signed it again (fig. 45.10). It is also possible that Monet moved the original placement of the gondola or potentially included more than one in an earlier stage (see Technical Report). Transmitted-infrared imaging reveals a form at center right that looks like a partial gondola gliding in or out of the picture plane (fig. 45.11), similar to the one that Monet added at left in his sketch of the motif (fig. 45.1, bottom).12

At the top left, a scale marker labeled 5.0 mm appears. From left to right, a textured pale blue-gray surface fills the background with horizontal streaks of light blue and purple. Near the center-left and center-right are two narrow red-pink vertical marks that curve slightly and rise from the lower third toward the middle, each with small brown patches near their upper areas. — Monet 33.446 MIC 1

Upper and right areas are solid black. Along the bottom edge, a narrow horizontal strip shows mixed blue, green, and purple tones with red cursive text; the numbers 1908 appear toward the right, and a small black rectangle highlights a few letters on the left. The colored strip occupies a small portion of the frame, limited to the lower band. — Detail Location

FIg. 45.10

Detail from Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing trace of earlier signature from a previous painting session. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top to bottom: two wide, vertical dark gray bands run the full height, separating paler gray sections. In the upper and middle left and right areas, faint geometric shapes appear, including repeated rectangular forms and a central circular shape in lighter gray. The lower half is filled with dense, small, wave-like horizontal textures in mixed dark and light gray. No people are present; colors are black, white, and shades of gray. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0–1.1 µm)

Fig. 45.11

Transmitted-infrared (1.0–1.1 µm) image of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing a form at center right that looks like a partial gondola gliding in or out of the picture plane. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

It is also notable that the three Palazzo Dario pictures that were included in the 1912 exhibition are the only paintings from the campaign in which Monet included a felze, a closed cabin in the center of the boat. It does not appear in a fourth, much sketchier version of the subject (fig. 45.12 [W1760]).^[25] This picture was not included in the 1912 exhibition and may, in fact, be more representative of what the exhibited works looked like in their earlier stages. It is difficult to see from the technical images of the Art Institute’s Venice, Palazzo Dario exactly how Monet laid in the gondola. Close inspection of the surface suggests that the lower edge of the building was painted in before the cabin was added to these compositions (fig. 45.13). Alice sent a postcard of a covered gondola to her granddaughter Alice Butler (fig. 45.14), and it is tempting to suggest that Monet included the cabins as a tribute to Alice, his devoted companion who had accompanied him on his boat trips down the canals.13

From bottom to top, dark blue-green water with ripples fills the foreground. In the middle, a long, narrow dark boat sits in front of a tall façade with rows of arches and circular details. On the left, a neighboring building appears in purple and pink tones, while the right edge is mostly dark, with a slim area of pale yellow light near the upper right. Colors are dominated by deep blues and purples with small areas of white and pale yellow. — Fig. 45.12

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *The Palazzo Dario*, 1908. Oil on canvas; 56 × 65 cm (22 1/16 × 25 5/8 in.). Private collection.

Foreground shows green and blue water with gentle ripples. Across the middle, a long, low, dark gondola sits in front of a large cream building with rows of arched windows and doorways and circular patterns in pink, blue, and yellow; to its left is a reddish-brown building with pointed arches, and to its right a darker green-blue building. The buildings fill the upper half and tower over the boat, with a narrow vertical gap between the center and right structures. — Natural Light

Top area is pale gray. Across the middle, a large dark-gray structure spans most of the width, with rows of arches and a round feature near the upper center. The lower half shows a wide band of rippling water in mid to dark gray aligned with the base of the structure. Left to right, the scene is divided by three vertical bands with a darker mass at the far right, and small white tick marks run along the edges. — X-Ray

In shades of black, white, and gray, a patterned background with repeating rectangular and arched shapes spans the frame, with a circular detail slightly right of center. Two wide, dark vertical bands run from top to bottom near the middle, dividing the background into three sections. The lower half shows dense, wavy horizontal textures that become darker toward the corners. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0–1.1 µm)

Fig. 45.13

Natural-light, X-ray, and transmitted-infrared (Fuji, 1.0–1.1 µm) details of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing the buildup of the painting in the area of the gondola. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. Interactive image.

At the top, red words read “Venezia – Ponte di Rialto” against a beige-brown sky. Across the middle, a large arched bridge with rows of small arch openings spans a wide waterway, with multi‑story buildings in brown tones lining both banks. In the foreground left, a long dark gondola with a small canopy has one person standing near the back holding a long oar; on the right, a larger boat sits near the edge. Water fills the bottom area, reflecting dark shapes of the boats and the bridge, emphasizing the bridge’s larger scale compared to the vessels. — Fig. 45.14

A postcard of the Ponte di Rialto, Venice, sent by Alice Monet to her daughter Alice Butler, Oct. 7, 1908. Taken from Philippe Piguet, *Monet et Venice*, rev. ed. (Herscher, 2008), p. 46.

Monet did not return to Venice as he had hoped, and the exhibition of his Venice works was delayed until 1912, but they were a market success when they finally were presented to the public. Many of the paintings included in the Bernheim-Jeune show, including the Art Institute’s Venice, Palazzo Dario, sold quickly, suggesting the approachability of the series to collectors.^[26] One of the versions of Palazzo Dario appears in a 1912 portrait of Josse and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune by Édouard Vuillard (fig. 45.15), a reflection of the significance of Monet’s Palazzo Dario paintings to the dealers as well as the esteem in which these works were held more broadly.14

From top to bottom, beige walls hold a gold-framed picture with red, green, and blue patches, and a tall beige curtain hangs at the far left. Centered is a white fireplace; in front of it stands an adult with light skin, dark hair, and a mustache, wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black bow tie with hands clasped. At right in the foreground, a larger-in-scale seated adult with light skin, slicked-back dark hair, and a mustache sits in a deep red chair, turned toward the standing person and wearing a black suit with a white pocket square. — Fig. 45.15

Édouard Vuillard (French, 1868–1940). *Portrait de Messieurs Josse et Gaston Bernheim-Jeune*, 1912. Oil on canvas; 157 × 159 cm (61 3/16 × 62 5/8 in.). Private collection. In 1912, Josse and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune organized an exhibition of Monet’s works titled *Venice*.

Jill Shaw15

Technical Summary

Claude Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario was executed on a pre-primed, no. 25 portrait (figure) standard-size linen canvas. There is a label from the Venetian supplier Emilio Aickelin on the back of the original stretcher, and this suggests that the stretched canvas was purchased in Venice. The ground is off-white and consists of two layers. The ground has a distinct diagonal, brush-marked texture, which remains visible on the surface of the painting and gives the illusion of a twill-weave canvas. The composition was built up as a whole in a network of superimposed brushstrokes, largely applied wet-in-wet. In localized areas throughout the painting, the artist wiped or scraped into the soft paint layers, exposing underlying colors. Technical imaging reveals a form in front of the building on the right that suggests an object, possibly a gondola, was included at an earlier stage in the painting. Some small adjustments were made to the gondola in the final painting. Other minor changes were made to some of the architectural details.^[27]16

Multilayer Interactive Image Viewer

The multilayer interactive image viewer is designed to facilitate the viewer’s exploration and comparison of the technical images (fig. 45.16).^[28]17

Foreground shows rippling canal water in green and blue with touches of purple, filling the lower half. Across the center, a long, low gondola in dark blue sits parallel to the shoreline, with no people visible. Background features large, closely spaced buildings: in the middle a pale cream facade with circular decorations and tall arched openings; to the left a reddish facade with rows of pointed arches and a balcony; to the right a darker greenish building in shadow. The buildings rise from the waterline to the top edge and are many times taller than the gondola, separated by narrow gaps. — Natural Light

Top section shows a large dark‑gray building façade stretching across the frame, with several arch-shaped openings and a prominent round opening near the center-right; a darker vertical mass stands along the far right edge. The middle area continues the façade with more arches and shadowed recesses. The lower half contains a broad expanse of mid- to dark-gray water with small, wavy ripples, occupying roughly half the frame and extending left to right. — X-Ray

Top half shows a large, light-to-medium gray building facade with multiple rows of arched openings and small window shapes arranged horizontally. In the middle, a darker vertical band divides sections, and a deeper gray arched opening sits near the center; a narrower structure rises along the far right edge. Bottom third is dark-to-light gray water with horizontal ripples spanning the width. No people or vehicles are clearly visible. — Infrared Reflectogram (1.0–1.1 µm)

Top half shows tall waterfront buildings: a large, multi-story facade with rows of arched openings and round window shapes in the center-right, a similar but dimmer facade on the left, and a darker, narrow structure on the far right. Midsection features the bases of these buildings meeting the water, with a small, long dark boat centered near the bottom of the main facade. Foreground is rippling water stretching across the lower half. Colors are mostly muted blue, gray, and purple with touches of pale yellow and pink on the buildings. — Raking Light

In shades of gray, faint architectural details fill the upper two-thirds, including rows of small openings and a large round feature slightly right of center, while two wide dark vertical bands run from top to bottom. The lower third is covered with dense, wavy horizontal lines, and the vertical bands continue through this area. Left to right, the view is divided into three sections by the bands, with lighter gray detail between them; no people or text are present. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0–1.1 µm)

Top half shows tall waterfront buildings in dark blues and purples, with rows of arched windows; a narrow gap on the upper right glows pink-orange between structures. Centered, a large building with arched openings at the waterline dominates the scene, and a small dark boat sits in front of the middle arch, appearing much smaller than the building. Bottom half is rippling water in blue-green, streaked with pink and orange reflections from the lights above. — Transmitted Light

From top to bottom, deep blues and purples show a waterfront setting: a large building fills the center, with rows of tall arched windows and doorways faintly visible. On the right edge is a darker building, separated from the center by a thin vertical strip of lighter blue; on the left, a shadowed facade is partially visible. The lower half is dark blue water with lighter blue ripples reflecting the buildings above. — Ultraviolet

Fig. 45.16

Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. Interactive image.

Signature

Signed and dated: Claude Monet 1908 (lower left corner, in red paint^[29]) (fig. 45.17).18

Top third shows a textured blend of teal, light blue, and lavender with faint green streaks. Across the center from left to right, a line of red cursive text spans most of the width and reads “Claude Monet” followed by digits “19?8” (last digit unclear). Along the bottom edge, a narrow off‑white strip shows beneath the blue‑green layer. — Fig. 45.17

Detail of Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing the signature. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Underneath the final signature and date, there are traces of an earlier signature and date, executed in brown paint (fig. 45.18). The brown paint appears to have been partially wiped or scraped away, as it is very thin and abraded in places (fig. 45.19). Some strokes from the water were applied on top before the final signature and date were applied (fig. 45.20). The first signature appears to have been similar in size and placement to the final one, and the date appears to have been the same, as the contours of the 8 can be discerned under magnification (fig. 45.21).19

At the top left, a black bar labeled “5.0 mm” provides scale. The upper area is light blue-green with small white specks and faint horizontal lines. Near the center-left and center-right, two narrow, vertical pink-red marks stand close together, each with small brown patches near their tops. Toward the bottom, the background shifts to cooler blue and purple tones in soft bands, and the scale indicates the colored marks are only a few millimeters wide. — Monet 33.446 MIC 1

Top and most of the frame are solid black. Along the bottom left, a small horizontal strip shows a textured surface in blue, green, and purple. Red cursive text runs left to right across this strip reading “Claude Monet 1908,” with a small black rectangle outlining part of the first red letter on the far left. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.18

Photomicrograph of the signature of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing an earlier signature in brown paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top left shows a small “2.0 mm” scale mark. From the upper left, blue-gray horizontal ridges transition into a rough, bumpy area of pale green and blue with many small white speckles. Near the center, an irregular brown patch is surrounded by scattered bright red and purple spots, and the pale green-blue continues toward the bottom and right edges with fewer white specks. — Monet 33.446 MIC 5

Most of the frame is solid black with no discernible objects. At the bottom left, a small rectangular inset shows a textured surface in blue‑green with hints of purple, bearing red cursive text that reads “Claude Monet 1908.” The inset occupies a small portion of the overall frame, and the text runs left to right near the lower edge of the inset. — Detail Location

FIg. 45.19

Photomicrograph of the signature of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing abrasion of the lower paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top area shows a mottled field of pale purple and bluish‑gray with scattered small dark specks, and a scale bar labeled 5.0 mm at the upper right. Across the middle, the background stays light purple and gray with many tiny pits. On the lower left is a narrow red mark, while the center-right has a larger cluster of red, curved streaks extending slightly downward and right. The red marks are only a few millimeters long and stand out strongly against the cooler background colors. — Monet 33.446 MIC 19

Top and center areas are solid black. Along the bottom-left edge, a narrow rectangular strip shows a blue‑green surface with patches of purple and lighter green; across it, red cursive text reads “Claude Monet” followed by “19” and an unclear final digit. Near the right end of this strip, a small black outlined box frames one of the last characters. — Detail Location

FIg. 45.20

Photomicrograph of the date in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing traces of brown paint from an earlier date that were covered by a stroke of purple paint before the final date in red was added. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

From left to right across a rough, uneven surface, pale purple and light blue dominate, with mint green concentrated at the upper right and spreading into the right side. A vertical band of bright red runs near the center from top to bottom, breaking into small spots and streaks, with additional red clusters near the left edge; tiny reflective specks are scattered throughout. A black scale bar labeled 5.0 mm sits at the upper right, and the colored areas appear as small, tightly packed patches. — Monet 33.446 MIC 18

Most of the frame is solid black, with a small, wide rectangular strip along the bottom left showing a textured surface in blue‑green with hints of purple and yellow. From left to center, red cursive text reads “Claude Monet” followed by “19” and unclear final digits. Near the right end of the strip, a small black outlined square highlights a tiny circular mark on the surface. No people or additional objects are visible. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.21

Photomicrograph of the date in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing traces of brown paint from an earlier date. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Structure and Technique

Support

Canvas
Flax (commonly known as linen).^[30]20

Standard format
The original dimensions were approximately 65.5 × 80.5 cm. This corresponds closely to a no. 25 portrait (figure) standard-size canvas (81 × 65 cm), turned horizontally.^[31]21

Weave
Plain weave. Average thread count (standard deviation): 33.4V (1.1) × 33.0H (0.5) threads/cm; the horizontal threads were determined to correspond to the warp and the vertical threads to the weft.^[32] No weave matches were found with other Monet canvases analyzed for this project.22

Canvas characteristics
There is strong cusping along the top edge, mild, relatively even cusping on the left and right edges, and only faint indications of cusping along the bottom.23

Stretching
Current stretching: Dates to 1991 treatment. Copper tacks spaced 2.5–5 cm apart. There is a series of smaller holes, spaced approximately 3–5 cm apart, which probably relates to the aluminum strip molding applied in 1959. The top edge was restretched in 2002 to deal with some deformations in the canvas (see Conservation History).24

Original stretching: Tack holes spaced approximately 3–6 cm apart. The cusping appears to correspond to the placement of the old tack holes on the left, right, and bottom edges, but not along the top edge.^[33] Additional tacks were probably subsequently added to reinforce areas of weak attachment where the original holes were degraded.25

Stretcher/strainer
Current stretcher: Dates to 1991 conservation treatment (see Conservation History). It is a five-membered (with vertical crossbar), keyable stretcher with mortise and tenon joints.26

Original stretcher: Discarded. The pre-1974-treatment stretcher may have been the original stretcher. It was described in an undated report as a four-membered, Buck type 2 stretcher with keyable mortise and tenon joints. This report gives the following dimensions: overall, 66 × 81 cm; outside depth, 2 cm; width, 5 cm; inside depth, 2 cm; distance from canvas position, 0.5 cm; length of mortise, 5 cm.^[34]27

Manufacturer’s/supplier’s marks
A supplier’s label from the back of the pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded) is preserved in the conservation file: EMILIO AICK[ELIN] / Venezia / Via 22 Marzo / ARTICOLI PER BELLE ART[…] / Via 22 Marzo 2378-2038 (fig. 45.22).^[35]28

Fig. 45.22

Image of a supplier’s label from the previous stretcher of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Preparatory Layers

Sizing
In UV light, evidence of a light-blue fluorescence between the canvas and the ground suggests the presence of an organic layer, possibly glue sizing (fig. 45.23).29

A wavy horizontal band of pale gray and white structure stretches left to right against a dark blue background. Along the top of the band, a thin bright white strip runs across, with clusters of small rounded polygonal pockets beneath it; several parallel light gray lines curve through the middle. Similar rounded pockets appear along the lower portion of the band with a few scattered dark spots. A scale bar at the top right reads 50 µm. — Monet 33.446 x1495_20x_UV_a

Mostly black field with a small square scene positioned near the lower-left. From left to right inside the square, cream and pink buildings with rows of arched windows face a canal, with green-blue water covering the lower portion; a darker blue-gray building stands at the far right, and several doorways sit at the waterline. Colors shift between soft blues, greens, pinks, and yellows, with the water reflecting these tones. A small white arrow cursor appears just to the right of the square scene. — Sample Location

FIg. 45.23

Photomicrograph in UV light of a cross section of the ground and canvas layers of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing a light-blue fluorescing layer between the ground and canvas. Original magnification: 200×. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Ground application/texture
The ground layer extends to the edges of all four tacking margins, suggesting that the canvas was cut from a larger piece of primed fabric, which was probably commercially prepared. There is strong diagonal brushmarking (lower left to upper right) on the surface of the ground layer, which is visible where the ground is exposed at the edges of the painting (fig. 45.24) and also in the X-ray (fig. 45.25). The diagonal brushstrokes appear to continue over the tacking margins to the cut edges of the canvas (fig. 45.26). The width of the sweeping brushstrokes suggests that a fairly broad brush was used. Cross-sectional analysis indicates that the ground consists of two layers. The lower layer ranges from approximately 10 to 45 µm in thickness. The upper layer ranges from approximately 20 to 55 µm in thickness (fig. 45.27, fig. 45.28).30

At the top left, a thin black scale bar labeled “5.0 mm” sits above a mottled field of blue and green with scattered small light flecks. Moving downward, a narrow, uneven boundary separates the green area from a wide beige band. The beige band at the bottom has a grainy, grid-like texture with tiny dark specks, and the lower edge falls into a dark shadow. — Monet 33.446 MIC 8

A wide black field fills most of the frame, with a narrow, multicolored strip along the bottom center. On this strip, a blue-green surface with touches of purple stretches left to right, carrying red cursive text that reads “Claude Monet 1908.” A thin light green band lines the very bottom edge, and a small black-outlined square sits near the lower center of the strip. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.24

Photomicrograph of the bottom edge of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing the brushmarked texture of the ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top area has scattered small white dots across a medium-gray background. Center-left contains a large dark-gray rectangular block with vertical, blurry streaks and lighter smudges, while the right edge shows a narrower light-gray vertical band. The bottom section is darker with uneven, scratch-like marks. The scene is entirely in black, white, and gray, and consists of a single image with no separate panels. — Fig. 45.25

X-ray detail of Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing diagonal brushmarks from the ground application. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. X-ray digitally composited by Robert G. Erdmann, University of Arizona.

Top area shows a blurred background in pale gray and tan. Across the middle runs a horizontal strip of light gray, textured surface with scattered brown scuffs and small chips. On this strip are two small white squares, one left rotated like a diamond and one right square-on, each with a small brown oval at the center. A solid black band fills the bottom. — Fig. 45.26

Detail of the right edge of Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing the diagonal texture of the ground application. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

- A long, narrow layered strip runs horizontally across the center: a thin white band along the top edge with uneven breaks, and directly below it a thicker brown band with many small, bubble-like pockets.
- From top to bottom: dark gray background, the white band, then the brown porous band, and more dark gray beneath.
- The brown area is slightly thicker toward the right side, and a white scale bar labeled 100 µm appears at the lower right. — Monet 33.446 x1495_10x_dkfld_d

A mostly black frame contains a small square picture at the lower left, taking up a small portion of the overall space. Inside that square, blue‑green water fills the bottom half; above it on the left stands a large pale yellow and pink façade with rows of arched openings and round details, and to the right is a narrower, darker blue‑green building. A white cursor arrow sits to the right of the small picture, pointing toward its right edge. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.27

Photomicrograph of a cross section of the ground and canvas layers of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908). Original magnification: 100×. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top area is dark gray with a few small light specks. Across the center, a wide, bright gray band runs horizontally and is broken by several thin, dark cracks; along its lower edge sits a mid‑gray, pebbly zone made of many small round and angular grains. The bottom area returns to dark gray with a few scattered bright fragments and small dark patches. White technical labels line the very bottom, including a scale bar marked 50 µm. — Monet 33.446 x1495_m

A small rectangular scene sits in the lower-left of a black background. Foreground shows rippling green-blue water across the bottom, touching the bases of buildings with arched openings. From left to right in the background: a red-orange façade with tall pointed windows, a light cream building with two rows of arches and circular roundels, and a darker teal building at the far right. A thin band of pale sky appears near the top center above the lighter building. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.28

Backscattered electron (BSE) image of a cross section of the ground of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing two distinct layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Color
Off-white, with some dark and possibly red particles visible under magnification (fig. 45.29).31

Cream to light gray field with many thin, irregular, mostly horizontal cracks running left to right. Scattered across are small oval and round bluish-gray spots with darker purple centers, plus several dark brown patches; a wider dark brown band crosses near the middle. A black scale bar labeled 1.0 mm appears at the top right; most spots are roughly a tenth to a third of that length across, and the central dark band is about a third to half a millimeter thick. — Monet 33.446 s3_bef_c

A wide black background surrounds a small rectangular scene at the lower left. Inside this scene, from left to right, tall waterfront buildings occupy the upper half: a reddish building with rows of pointed-arched windows; a pale cream building with stacked rows of arches and circular shapes; and a darker bluish-gray building on the right with two thin vertical elements on its roof. The lower half shows green-blue water with soft ripples, and a long narrow dark boat sits near the center-left beside the middle building, which appears much taller than the boat. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.29

Photomicrograph of the left edge of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Materials/composition
Analysis indicates that the lower layer contains lead white with minor amounts of zinc white and barium sulfate and traces of silica, silicates, and calcium carbonate. The upper layer contains lead white with traces of barium sulfate, iron oxide, calcium-based white, silica, and silicates.^[36]32

Compositional Planning/Underdrawing/Painted Sketch

Extent/character
No underdrawing was observed with infrared reflectography (IRR) or microscope examination.33

Paint Layer

Application/technique and artist’s revisions
Although the ground layer is almost completely obscured by the relatively thick and continuous buildup of paint layers, the pronounced diagonal, brush-marked texture of its surface remains visible throughout the painting, almost giving the appearance of a twill-weave canvas. The ground texture is most noticeable where the paint is thin or lightly dragged across the surface, often at the borders of compositional elements, for example, around the doors and windows (fig. 45.30, fig. 45.31, fig. 45.32). At the same time, the plain-weave texture of the canvas is also visible on the paint surface in some areas. The buildup of the paint, where it was applied in a horizontal direction and with a light touch, often emphasizes the vertical canvas threads, creating a corrugated texture (fig. 45.33).34

Figs. 45.30–45.32

Top portion shows a light cream building facade with several tall, dark arched openings and small round accents in pale purple and yellow. Across the middle, a long, narrow boat in deep blue‑green stretches horizontally in front of the building, taking up most of the width. Bottom third is blue‑green water with soft ripples that reflect hints of cream, blue, and purple from above. — Fig. 45.30

Detail of a building in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing diagonal brushmarks from the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Along the top, a soft band of pale green and tan holds small dabs of yellow. Across the middle from left to right, four vertical, rounded patches stand in blue and purple with touches of red and pink, each separated by lighter stripes of pale green and cream. Surrounding areas are mottled shades of green, teal, and beige with occasional hints of orange and yellow. — Fig. 45.31

Detail of a building in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing diagonal brushmarks from the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Across the top, a wide band of warm colors—peach, orange, and pink—stretches left to right. Below it, a row of tall, rounded shapes fills the middle in layered blue, teal, green, and purple, with the forms blending into one another. Along the bottom, a thin horizontal strip shows small, repeating vertical blocks in pale blue and green, and a narrow off-white margin runs down the left edge. — Fig. 45.32

Detail of a building in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing diagonal brushmarks from the ground layer in places. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top area shows a dark blue, raised surface with vertical ridges and small bumps. Moving downward, the blue transitions into beige and gray with several thin, vertical streaks running from top to bottom. Bottom area is mostly beige and gray with a rough, bumpy texture. A black scale bar labeled 5.0 mm appears at the upper left. — Monet 33.446 MIC 14

Most of the frame is solid black, with a small rectangular scene in the lower left corner. In that scene, a pale yellow waterfront building spans the top half, with three tall arched openings and a smaller round arch near the left edge at water level. Green and blue water fills the lower half, showing ripples that reflect yellow, blue, and purple tones as the building’s base meets the water. No people, animals, or text are visible. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.33

Photomicrograph of a building in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing the buildup of paint on the vertical canvas threads. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

The painting appears to have been worked up from a thin lay-in of the composition. Where the earliest layers are visible, the artist seems to have mapped out the composition with more subdued tones, applied in thin layers. In the water, for example, transparent strokes of thinly applied green and greenish-blue paint were laid in first. The water was then built up with individual strokes of different colors, often applied wet-on-wet with little physical mixing or blending of the colors on the canvas (fig. 45.34). Some of the final strokes applied in the water consist of more intense color, lightly dragged across the surface (fig. 45.35). Although the painting is densely built up, the surface is relatively flat, with only low-relief texture, which often comes from beneath the surface from the ground and canvas textures and the crisp brushmarks of underlying layers. There is no impasto and only a few thick, textural strokes scattered over the surface. Both the positive and negative spaces of the architecture were built up to the same degree and sit basically on the same plane (fig. 45.36, fig. 45.37). Throughout the painting, it appears that the artist wiped or scraped into the upper paint layers in localized areas, revealing underlying colors (fig. 45.38, fig. 45.39, fig. 45.40) as well as the ground and canvas in places (fig. 45.19). This was perhaps done as a way of breaking up more solid areas of color, and it also contributes to the flattened appearance of the paint surface. It is difficult to say how the scraping or wiping was carried out, as no actual tool marks are evident, but it appears to have been done when the upper layers were still soft (fig. 45.41) and sometimes offers a cross-sectional view of superimposed paint layers in small areas (fig. 45.42).35

Fig. 45.34–45.37

Top to bottom, a mottled field of blue and green fills the surface, with soft patches of purple and small touches of yellow scattered throughout. A narrow beige strip runs along the left edge. Along the lower edge toward the right, red cursive text reads “Claude Monet 1908.” — Fig. 45.34

Detail of the water in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top area shows a broad expanse of blue‑green and turquoise with lighter mint and pale blue patches; near the top right edge is a small curved shape in darker blue. Across the middle, mixed strokes of aqua, green, and light purple are interspersed with a few small spots of yellow. Toward the bottom, the colors deepen to teal and lavender, and a small line of red handwriting sits in the lower left corner. — Fig. 45.35

Detail of the water in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing touches of local color. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Along the top edge, a narrow strip of light tan and pale green contains a few small mustard yellow spots. Below it, four side-by-side vertical ovals run left to right, each blended with blue, teal, and purple with touches of pink; each oval takes roughly a quarter of the width and is separated by thin pale green gaps. The surrounding areas are soft green, beige, and muted coral, with an uneven surface and small raised dots. — Fig. 45.36

Detail of a building in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing the buildup of the brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Across the top runs a band of warm peach and orange with touches of light green. The center contains a row of tall, tapered shapes in dark teal, green, and purple, each ending in a pointed peak that forms a left-to-right zigzag. Near the bottom, a thin horizontal line stretches across above a lighter blue-green area with short vertical strokes. A narrow beige strip borders the left edge. — FIg. 45.37

Detail of a building in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing the buildup of the brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top left shows a thin black bar labeled “5.0 mm.” From top to bottom and left to right, irregular streaks and patches of green, purple, pink, brown, yellow, and some blue fill the view, with small white specks scattered throughout. Denser green areas sit on the left and center, transitioning to more brown and purple toward the right; the lower edge has deeper purples with a few dark green and blue spots. The scale indicates larger color bands are a few millimeters wide, with tiny specks much smaller. — Monet 33.446 MIC 11

Fig. 45.38

Photomicrograph of a building in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing an area of possible scraping by the artist. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

At the top left, a black scale bar labeled 5.0 mm sits over a multicolored surface. From top to bottom, irregular patches and streaks of purple, green, brown, and gray appear, with scattered small white flecks. Across the center, a diagonal band of magenta and teal runs left to right, crossed by thin, dark hairline cracks. Near the bottom right, a small area of bright yellow-orange borders deeper purple and dark green. — Monet 33.446 MIC 12

Top and right portions are solid black, with content confined to the lower-left corner. In that corner, an ornate building facade fills the space, showing rows of small arches near the top, larger arched openings and windows below, and a tall arched section at the far right; colors are mostly blue, purple, green, and pale yellow. A small black rectangular box sits over the left-center of the facade, outlining a spot on the upper row of openings. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.39

Photomicrograph of a building in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing an area of possible scraping by the artist. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top section shows a rough, wavy surface in green and teal, with small bright spots along the ridges. Across the middle, irregular streaks and shallow pits run left to right, with scattered tiny specks of blue and yellow-orange. Bottom area continues the same texture, and a scale bar at the lower right reads 5.0 mm, indicating the view spans only a few millimeters. — Monet 33.446 MIC 16

A large black field fills the top and right, with a rectangular waterside view in the lower left. From left to center of that view, a pale yellow and cream building shows two levels of arched openings with small round accents in purple and pink, and darker openings at the base. To the right, a tall vertical area in green and teal stands beside blue-green water with soft ripples and reflections; a small dark boat sits near the lower left along the waterline. — Detail location

Fig. 45.40

Photomicrograph of a building in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing an area of possible scraping by the artist where an underlying green layer is exposed. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top left shows a thin black scale bar labeled “5.0 mm.” Below it, a rough, ridged surface fills the frame in light purple and lavender tones, crossed by diagonal streaks of darker purple and scattered patches of green and teal. A medium‑green patch sits near the center, with smaller green flecks toward the upper half; no distinct objects or figures are visible. — Monet 33.446 mic 9

Top and right portions are solid black. In the lower-left, a wide rectangular section shows a mottled field of blue, green, and purple with small touches of yellow, spanning the full bottom edge and roughly a third of the image’s height. Near the lower-left edge, red cursive text appears to read “Claude Monet 1918.” A small black square sits slightly left of center within the colored section. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.41

Photomicrograph of the water in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing an area of possible scraping by the artist. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Top section shows a rough, mottled surface with pale green, light blue, and lavender patches, sprinkled with small darker specks. Across the middle, irregular white and light purple streaks run left to right, with scattered small patches of dark green and a few mustard yellow spots. Bottom area continues the uneven texture with more green and yellow touches and shallow pits. A scale bar in the lower right reads 2.0 mm, indicating very small features. — Monet 33.446 MIC 15

Most of the frame is black, with a small rectangular scene in the bottom-left corner. In that scene, the upper portion shows a light tan building facade with several tall openings—one arched near the center—and small circular features above them in blue and purple. The lower portion shows green-blue water with ripples, reflecting bands of blue, purple, and yellow along the base of the building. A small black square sits over the water near the lower-left area of the scene. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.42

Photomicrograph of the water in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing an area of possible scraping by the artist. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Underlying brushwork at the base of the building on the right, visible in transmitted infrared, suggests that the artist made changes in this area (fig. 45.43). The curved brushstrokes are suggestive of a gondola but could also be related to adjustments made to the building where it meets the water. The paint applied on top is slightly more solid and opaque than the more open brushwork of the rest of the water (fig. 45.44). If the earlier brushwork did represent a boat, it is difficult to say whether both boats were present simultaneously in the composition at any stage. The central boat does, however, appear to have been part of the composition from early on, based on its relative radio-transparency in the X-ray (fig. 45.45), which shows that the water and the features of the palazzo behind were built up around it. It appears that the boat in the final painting was extended on the left side where it continues on top of the building.^[37] Other minor changes involve the door and window of the building on the left, both of which were moved further to the right (fig. 45.46). Similarly, the small, circular feature on the left side of the lower level of Palazzo Dario was shifted slightly to the lower left (fig. 45.47). The architectural features of the building on the right appear to have been laid in much more distinctly compared to their final appearance. This is apparent in the X-ray, in which strong, directional, lead white–rich strokes delineating the different stories and window openings of the building are clearly visible. In the final painting, these features have been largely subdued by the thin, sketchy brushwork on the surface (fig. 45.48). The thicker, more textured underlayers were dry when the upper layers were applied; the crisp ridges of those earlier brushstrokes remained undisturbed when subsequent paint layers were applied and when localized areas were subjected to the scraping/wiping technique discussed above (fig. 45.49). This supports the idea that the painting was carried out in more than one session.36

Top and middle areas show tall waterfront buildings: on the left a reddish and cream facade with rows of pointed-arch windows, in the center a pale cream facade with circular decorations and stacked arched windows, and on the right a darker greenish building in shadow. Across the lower third, rippling water fills the foreground in blue‑green with touches of purple, yellow, and light blue. Near the center at the waterline, a long narrow dark boat sits along the base of the central building, small in scale compared to the buildings and aligned with several doorways and arches on the lower level. — Natural Light

From top to bottom, a grayscale scene shows two tall dark vertical bands near the center, dividing the view into three sections. Behind and around them, the upper half contains faint repeating curved and rectangular shapes, while the lower half is covered with dense horizontal wavy lines. Tones range from light gray to near black; the darkest areas are along the bottom edge and within the two central bands, and the wavy region occupies roughly the lower third to half of the picture. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0–1.1 µm)

Fig. 45.43

Transmitted infrared (Fuji, 1.0–1.1 µm) and natural-light details of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing a possible change made to the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. Interactive image.

Top area shows a pale off‑white sky above two large buildings separated by a narrow vertical light gap. On the left, a cream and light yellow façade features round and arched shapes with touches of blue, pink, and green, and a tall dark opening near the bottom; on the right, a blue‑green building has darker vertical accents and a few dark rectangular patches. The bottom foreground is a broad band of green and blue with soft horizontal streaks. Dominant colors are blue, green, teal, cream, and small areas of pink and purple. — Fig. 45.44

Detail of a building in Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) showing the buildup of the brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

From top to middle in shades of gray, a broad, dark mass spans most of the width, showing repeated arch‑shaped openings and a single circular opening near the upper center-right; a thick vertical strip stands just right of center. Two lighter vertical bands divide the view into three sections. The lower third to half contains dense, wavy horizontal lines forming a rippled surface that is lighter near the bottom and darker toward the center. Thin white tick marks and dots run along all four edges. — X-Ray

Top area shows three tall waterside buildings; the center pale cream facade with rows of arched windows and circular patterns in pink and blue occupies most of the width, with a reddish building with pointed arches on the left and a darker green-gray building on the right. Across the middle, a long narrow boat sits in front of the central building, aligned left to right. Bottom half is rippling water in blended greens, blues, and purples reflecting the facades. — Natural Light

Fig. 45.45

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing a possible change made to the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. Interactive image.

Across the upper half, three waterside buildings stand side by side: at left a reddish façade with pointed window openings, in the center a pale cream façade with rows of arched windows and circular decorations, and at right a darker greenish structure with fewer visible details. Along the midline, doorways and arches meet the canal, and a long, narrow dark boat rests in front of the central building. The lower half is filled with green-blue water, rippling and reflecting patches of blue, purple, pink, and yellow from the structures above. — Natural Light

Top section shows a large, dark building facade with rows of arches and a circular opening near the center-right, all in shades of gray. The middle continues the facade with larger arched openings, and the bottom half is filled by a wide expanse of rippling water. The scene is divided into three vertical bands with slight tonal differences, and a pale border with small white tick marks lines the outer edges. — X-Ray

Fig. 45.46

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing a possible change made to the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. Interactive image.

Grayscale view with a pale gray border and small white tick marks along the top and sides. In the upper half, dark-gray, blurry architectural forms span left to right, with multiple arches and a round feature near the center-right. The lower half contains a broad band of medium to dark gray filled with short curved strokes that create a rippled texture across the width. Three vertical strips of slightly different tone run from top to bottom, with the middle strip lighter than the sides. — X-Ray

Top section shows three waterfront buildings. From left to right: a reddish-pink façade with rows of pointed arched windows; a pale cream façade with large arched openings and round decorations; a darker green-blue building in shadow. The lower half is blue-green water with ripples. A long, dark gondola sits along the base of the center building, small compared to the tall façades. — Natural Light

Fig. 45.47

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing a change made to the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. Interactive image.

Monochrome scene in black, white, and gray showing a large architectural facade across the upper half, with repeated arches and a circular opening near the upper center-right. From left to right, three vertical bands with slightly different tones divide the view; darker architectural details are clearer in the left and right bands, while the center band is lighter. The lower half is filled with tightly spaced horizontal ripples and patches of light and dark gray, occupying about half the height. Thin rulers with tick marks and small white dots run along the top and side edges, framing this single composition. — X-Ray

Top half shows tall waterfront buildings: left side has rows of pointed-arch windows in reddish and purple tones; center is a pale cream facade with arched doorways and round decorative patterns; right side is a darker green-blue structure. Across the middle, a long, narrow dark boat sits in front of the center facade, small compared with the buildings. The bottom half is rippling water in greens, blues, and hints of purple, with streaks of the building colors on its surface. — Natural Light

Fig. 45.48

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing the buildup of the brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446. Interactive image.

Left side shows densely packed vertical streaks in green and teal with small light specks. Near the center, a thin bright white line and a faint pale yellow line run from top to bottom, with the right side shifting to blue and purple tones dotted with small pink spots. Narrow ridges and grooves extend vertically across the entire surface. A scale bar at the lower right reads 5.0 mm. — Monet 33.446 MIC 17

Left side shows the front of a pale yellow and cream building with two rows of arches and small round decorations in pink and purple; dark arch openings face blue-green water along the bottom. A small, long narrow boat sits at the lower left beside the building. The right half is a tall area of blended green, teal, and blue with faint purple patches that merges into the water, making the building large in scale next to the boat. — Detail Location

Fig. 45.49

Photomicrograph of a building in Monet’s Venice, Palazzo Dario (1908) showing the vertical ridges of underlying brushstrokes. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.446.

Painting tools
Brushes, including 0.5 and 1.0 cm width, flat ferrule (based on width and shape of brushstrokes). Possible scraping of paint layers may have involved the use of a palette knife, but no tool marks could be discerned. Several brush hairs are embedded in the paint layer.37

Palette
Analysis indicates the presence of the following pigments: lead white, cadmium yellow, strontium yellow, vermilion, red lake, viridian, malachite, cerulean blue, cobalt blue, cobalt violet, and possibly zinc white.^[38]38

Binding media
Oil (estimated).^[39]39

Surface Finish

Varnish layer/media
The synthetic varnish that was applied in the 1974 treatment was thinned in 1991 (see ). Since the treatment report states that this coating was “thinned,” it is likely that some synthetic varnish residues remain on the surface (see Conservation History). The paint surface has a soft sheen in areas where the paint is thicker and smooth, and it appears more matte where the paint is thinly applied and the canvas texture is visible. According to a 1959 examination report, the painting was unvarnished at that time.^[40]40

Conservation History

In 1959, the painting (described as unvarnished at the time) was surface cleaned, and a spray coat of equal parts methacrylate L44 and L46 was applied. The painting was backed with a resin-coated hardboard and aluminum strip molding was attached to the edges.^[41]41

In 1974, discolored surface films were removed. The painting was wax-resin lined and restretched on an ICA spring stretcher. A layer of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) AYAA was applied. Inpainting was carried out. A layer of methacrylate resin L-46 was applied, followed by a final layer of AYAA.^[42]42

In 1991, the synthetic resin coating was reduced. The wax-resin lining was removed. Weak areas of the tacking margins were reinforced, and a small puncture in the center of the canvas was reinforced and filled. The tacking margins were strip lined. The painting was restretched on a new stretcher with a loose lining. The painting was keyed out, and the keys were secured. A Fome-Cor backing board was applied.^[43]43

In 2002, the painting was restretched on the top edge to ameliorate ripples in the canvas, and the stretcher was keyed out. Wedge retainers were added to keep the keys in place.^[44]44

Condition Summary

The painting is in good condition. The canvas has a loose lining, and the tacking edges are strip lined (the 1974 wax-resin lining was removed in 1991). The canvas is fairly taut on the stretcher and there are no planar deformations. The tacking margins are deteriorated and torn at the old tack holes and the corners. In general, the ground layer is moderately abraded and dirty along the edges. The paint layer is stable. There are a few, tiny flake losses: at lower right in the water; to the left of the door of the Palazzo Dario (documented as a small puncture in the 1991 treatment report); above the upper arched windows of the left building; and a vertical series at the upper right edge, which may be the result of a scratch or impact. There is a light scratch, made when the paint was still soft, near the center of the large area of sky. There is only very light cracking scattered throughout the paint surface, mainly spanning thicker strokes of paint. The painting is unvarnished and has a subtle, variable surface sheen depending on the qualities of the paint and the brushwork. There are residues of starch paste and wax-resin adhesive from the 1974 lining procedure in the recesses of the paint texture throughout the surface. There are some old retouching residues around the edges of the painting.45

Kimberley Muir46

Frame

Current frame (installed 1991): The frame is not original to the painting. It is an American reproduction of a Louis XIII convex frame with a running acanthus-leaf ornament with acanthus-leaf miters and a ribbon and cove sight (APF Inc., New York, 1991). The frame is water gilded over red-brown bole on gesso. The hollow is burnished, with selective burnishing on the carved ornament. The gold has been heavily rubbed overall and toned with thin oil paint washes, casein washes, and dark flecking. The carved basswood moldings are mitered and nailed. The molding, from perimeter to interior, is cove; scotia, convex face with a running acanthus-leaf ornament with acanthus-leaf miters on a recut bed; fillet; hollow; fillet; torus with a ribbon ornament; and cove (fig. 45.50).^[45] 47

Previous frame (installed by 1975; removed 1991): The work was previously housed in an American, mid-twentieth-century, L-shaped, narrow frame with a gilded face on a mahogany molding with exposed splines at the miters. The frame may be a design by James L. Speyer (fig. 45.51).^[46]48

Previous frame (installed before 1922; date removed, unknown) The work was previously housed in what was probably the original frame, a French (Parisian), early-twentieth-century, Durand-Ruel, Régence Revival, ogee frame with cast foliate and center cartouches with cabochon centers on a quadrillage bed, leaf-tip-and-shell sight molding, and a independent fillet liner (fig. 45.52).^[47]49

Top left, a large framed waterfront scene with small boats and figures rests on a dark wood sideboard, with a few small vases in front. To the right, another large framed view of tall buildings beside water leans against a chair with patterned fabric. On the floor from left to right are three smaller pictures: a garden scene with two figures, a bust-length portrait of a person with short hair, and a still life of flowers; above these on the right is a mid‑sized picture of a rider on a horse. The photo is black and white, so elements appear in light and dark shades, with light-toned ornate frames against pale walls in the corner of a room. — Fig. 45.52

Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) in a previous frame, on display in Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn’s Blackstone Hotel apartment. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Kirk Vuillemot50

Sold by the artist, in half-shares, to Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, and Durand-Ruel, Paris, Apr. 10, 1912, for 10,000 francs.^[48]51

Sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, Oct. 11, 1912, or Oct. 17, 1912.^[49]52

Sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to Arthur B. Emmons, Newport, Rhode Island, Dec. 26, 1912, for $7,500.^[50]53

Sold by Arthur B. Emmons, Newport, Rhode Island, to Durand-Ruel, New York, May 27, 1913, for 37,600 francs.^[51]54

Sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to Arthur B. Emmons, Newport, Rhode Island, May 27, 1913, for $6,500.^[52]55

Sold at the Arthur B. Emmons, Newport, Rhode Island, sale, American Art Association, New York, Jan. 14, 1920, lot 42, to Durand-Ruel, New York, and Knoedler, New York, in half-shares, for $5,800.^[53]56

Sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn, Chicago, Feb. 8, 1923, for $9,735 + tax.^[54]57

Bequeathed by Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn (died 1932), Chicago, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.58

Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, Claude Monet: “Venise,” May 28–June 8, 1912, cat. 19, as Le Palais Dario.^[55]59

Boston, Brooks Reed Gallery, Monet. Venise, late Oct. 1912.^[56]60

Boston, Brooks Reed Gallery, Tableaux Durand-Ruel, Mar. 1921.^[57]61

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, Apr. 6–Oct. 9, 1932, cat. 26.62

Art Institute of Chicago, ”A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture for 1934, June 1–Oct. 31, 1934, cat. 221.^[58]63

University of Chicago, Lexington Hall, Nov. 28–Dec. 19, 1951, no cat.^[59]64

Chicago, Remington Rand, window display, Apr. 14–30, 1952, no cat.^[60]65

University of Chicago, Lexington Hall, Mar. 1–20, 1954, no cat.^[61]66

University of Chicago, Lexington Hall, Feb. 25–Mar. 11, 1955, no cat.^[62]67

University of Chicago, College of Humanities, Feb. 27–Mar. 16, 1956, no cat.^[63]68

Park Forest (Ill.) Art Center, Mar. 25–Apr. 22, 1956, no cat.^[64]69

Art Center in La Jolla (Calif.), Great French Paintings, 1870–1910, June 15–July 26, 1956, cat. 10 (ill.).70

Art Institute of Chicago, The Paintings of Claude Monet, Apr. 1–June 15, 1957, no cat. no.^[65]71

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Claude Monet: Seasons and Moments, Mar. 9–May 15, 1960, cat. 97; Los Angeles County Museum, June 14–Aug. 7, 1960.72

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975, cat. 113 (ill.). (fig. 45.53)73

A museum gallery wall in muted olive-brown shows five framed pictures beneath the label “1900–1908,” with a thin cord barrier along the floor. From left to right: a partially visible piece; a small rectangular scene of pale blue water with a light building and tall tower; a larger central piece in an ornate frame showing a multi‑arched bridge over blue‑purple water; a medium scene of a tan building with rows of arched windows beside greenish water; and a small scene at far right of a distant shoreline or city in pink and orange tones. The central frame is the largest, and small black number plaques reading 112, 107, and 113 appear near the three middle pictures. — Fig. 45.53

Installation of Monet’s *Venice, Palazzo Dario* (1908) in *Paintings by Monet*, Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, Monet and the Mediterranean, June 8–Sept. 7, 1997, cat. 93 (ill.); New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Oct. 10, 1997–Jan. 4, 1998.74

Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, Turner; Whistler; Monet, June 12–Sept. 12, 2004, cat. 88 (ill.); Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Oct. 12, 2004–Jan. 17, 2005; London, Tate Britain, Feb. 10–May 15, 2005.75

Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008, cat. 89 (ill.).76

Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Éblouissants reflets: Cent chefs-d’oeuvre impressionnistes, Apr. 29–Sept. 30, 2013, cat. 155 (ill.).77

Bernheim-Jeune, Claude Monet: “Venise,” with a preface by Octave Mirbeau, exh. cat. (Bernheim-Jeune, [1912]), cat. 19.^[66]78

Gustave Geffroy, “La Venise de Claude Monet,” La dépêche de Toulouse, May 30, 1912, p. 1.79

“Art et curiosité: Une féerie de lumière et de couleur; Venise vue par Cl. Monet,” Le temps, June 11, 1912, p. 4.80

Henri Genet, “Beaux-Arts et curiosité. Les ‘Venise’ de Cl. Monet,” L’opinion, June 1, 1912, p. 698.^[67]81

“Revue des ventes. New York,” Le journal des arts, Feb. 21, 1920, p. 3.^[68]82

“Collections Emmons, Flanagan Sayles et autres à New York,” La chronique des arts 4 (Feb. 29, 1920), p. 32.83

Gustave Geffroy, Claude Monet: Sa vie, son temps, son oeuvre (G. Crès, 1922), opp. p. 312 (ill.).84

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1932), p. 20, cat. 26.85

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. 38, cat. 221.86

Oscar Reuterswärd, Monet: En konstnärshistorik (Bonniers, 1948), pp. 254, fig. 121; 255; 288.87

Art Center in La Jolla, Great French Paintings, 1870–1910, exh. cat. (Art Center in La Jolla, 1956), p. 13, cat. 10 (ill.).88

Art Institute of Chicago, “Catalogue,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 34.89

William C. Seitz, Claude Monet: Seasons and Moments, exh. cat. (Museum of Modern Art, New York/Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Doubleday, 1960), p. 63, cat. 97.90

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), p. 322.^[69]91

A. James Speyer, “Twentieth-Century European Paintings and Sculpture,” Apollo 84, 55 (Sept. 1966), p. 222.92

Susan Wise, ed., Paintings by Monet, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 170, cat. 113 (ill.).93

A. James Speyer and Courtney Graham Donnell, Twentieth-Century European Paintings (University of Chicago Press, 1980), p. 59, cat. 3B4; microfiche 3, no. B4 (ill.).94

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), pp. 240; 241, cat. 1757 (ill.); 385, letter 2012a; 430, pièces justificatives 239, 240, 241; 431, pièce justificative 294; 432, pièce justificative 313.95

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), p. 118, cat. D404.96

Andrew Forge, Monet, Artists in Focus (Art Institute of Chicago, 1995), pp. 65; 103, pl. 32; 109.97

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vol. 1 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 389, cat. 1757 (ill.).98

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 822–24, cat. 1757 (ill.).99

Pablo García Sainz, ed., “Los Pintores de Venecia,” Saber ver: Lo contemporáneo del arte 37 (Nov.–Dec. 1997), pp. 71, 72 (ill.).100

Joachim Pissarro, Monet and the Mediterranean, exh. cat. (Kimbell Art Museum/Rizzoli, 1997), pp. 164; 167, pl. 93.101

Matthias Arnold, Claude Monet, Rowohlts Monographien (Rowohlt, 1998), p. 141 (ill.). Translated by Anne Wyburd, Monet (Haus, 2005), p. 145 (detail).102

Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami, Kurōdo Mone meigashū: Hikari to kaze no kiseki [Claude Monet: 1881–1926], vol. 2 (Nihon Bijutsu Kyōiku Sentā, 2001), pp. 130, no. 253 (ill.); 191.103

Katharine Lochnan, “Turner, Whistler, Monet: An Artistic Dialogue,” in Turner; Whistler; Monet: Impressionist Visions, ed. Katharine Lochnan, exh. cat. (Art Gallery of Ontario/Tate Publishing, 2004), p. 35.^[70]104

John House, “Tinted Steam: Turner and Impressionism,” in Turner; Whistler; Monet: Impressionist Visions, ed. Katharine Lochnan, exh. cat. (Art Gallery of Ontario/Tate Publishing, 2004), p. 49.^[71]105

Sylvie Patin, “The Last Act: Turner, Whistler and Monet in Venice,” in Turner; Whistler; Monet: Impressionist Visions, ed. Katharine Lochnan, exh. cat. (Art Gallery of Ontario/Tate Publishing, 2004), pp. 206; 212; 213, no. 88; 214, no. 88 (ill.).^[72]106

Stephen F. Eisenman, “Death and Tourism: Claude Monet’s Paintings of Venice,” in Value: Art: Politics: Criticism, Meaning and Interpretation after Postmodernism, ed. Jonathan Harris (Liverpool University Press, 2007), p. 141, fig. 11.^[73]107

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), p. 171, cat. 89 (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), p. 171, cat. 89 (ill.).^[74]108

Philippe Piguet, Monet et Venise, rev. and complete ed. (Herscher, 2008), pp. 110-11 (ill.).109

Ségolène Le Men, “Un horizon de peinture,” in Sylvain Amic, Eblouissants reflets: Cent chefs-d’œuvre impressionnistes, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais/Musée de la Ville de Rouen, 2013), pp. 281; 284, cat. 155 (ill.).110

Documentation from the Durand-Ruel Archives

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel Paris 10000, Durand-Ruel, Paris stock book 1901–13^[75]111

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel New York 3542, Durand-Ruel, New York stock book 1904–24^[76]112

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel New York 3647, Durand-Ruel, New York stock book 1904–24^[77]113

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel New York 4408, Durand-Ruel, New York stock book 1904–24^[78]114

Photograph number
Durand-Ruel Paris Photo no. 7266^[79]115

Documentation from the Bernheim-Jeune Archives

Inventory number
Stock Bernheim-Jeune 19267^[81]117

Labels and Inscriptions

Pre-1980

Label
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); preserved in conservation file
Method: printed label
Content: EMILIO AICK[ELIN] / Venezia / Via 22 Marzo / ARTICOLI PER BELLE ART[…] / Via 22 Marzo 2378-2038 (fig. 45.55)^[82]118

A torn brown sheet with many holes sits against a dark blue background, covered by faint maroon line art. Along the top are leafy patterns and a narrow border; in the middle a human figure sits at center-left holding a round object, while another figure stands on the right in a long, flowing garment, both partly obscured by rips. The lower portion shows small drawings of vessels and scrolls, a ribbon with the word “EMILIO,” and larger text reading “ARTICOLI PER BELLE ARTI,” with a smaller line “Via 22 Marzo 2378–2038” below. — Fig. 45.55

Label
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); preserved in conservation file
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: Monet No. 4408 / Venise, le palais / Dario, 1908 / mobb (fig. 45.56)119

Small torn brown label on a dark blue background with handwritten black text. Top left reads “Monet,” with “No” and numbers to the upper right; the next line reads “Venise le palais”; the line below includes “1905” with a place name that looks like “Paris”; a short word at the lower right is unclear. A small round hole is near the left center, and the right and bottom edges are ragged. — Fig. 45.56

Post-1980

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with typewritten script
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / artist Claude Monet / title “Venice, Palazzo Dario” 1908 / medium oil on canvas / credit Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn / acc. # 1933.446 / LZ-341-001 1M 1/90 (REV. 1/90) (fig. 45.57)120

A rectangular off-white label with black text is shown. From top to bottom, a large heading reads “THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO,” followed by left‑aligned lines: artist Claude Monet; title “Venice, Palazzo Dario” 1908; medium oil on canvas; credit Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn; acc. # 1933.446. In the bottom right corner, smaller text reads “LZ-341-001 1M 1/90 (Rev. 1/90).” — Fig. 45.57

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: Panel Insert / Installation Date / 2.20.2008 (fig. 45.58)121

At the top, a white label shows black text reading “Panel Insert” in larger bold letters, with “Installation Date” in smaller letters directly below. Under these lines, a rectangular box with a black border contains gray handwritten numbers: “2.20.2008.” The label sits on a light off‑white background, with no other elements visible. — Fig. 45.58

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: Panel Insert / Installation Date / 2.20.2008 (fig. 45.59)122

Rectangular white label with rounded corners on a light gray background. Top line reads “Panel Insert” in large black letters, with “Installation Date” in smaller black letters directly below. A black-outlined box spans most of the width at the bottom, containing handwritten text: “2. 20. 2008.” — Fig. 45.59

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: [logo] / Réunion des musées nationaux / Exposition: Turner, Whistler, Monet / Lieu: Paris / Dates: 12/10/2004–17/01/2005 / Titre de l’oeuvre: Le Palais Dario / Auteur: Monet (Claude) / No catalogue: 95 [crossed out in ink and replaced with] 89 / Propriétaire: The Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 45.60)123

Single rectangular white label under a clear cover, with black French text and a small black circle containing a white “m” at the top left. From top to bottom, the lines read: “Réunion des musées nationaux”; “Exposition: Turner, Whistler, Monet”; “Lieu: Paris”; “Dates: 12/10/2004 - 17/01/2005”; “Titre de l’œuvre: Le Palais Dario”; “Auteur: Monet (Claude)”; “N° catalogue:” with the printed number crossed out and “89” handwritten in blue; “Propriétaire: The Art Institute of Chicago.” Background around the label is light beige, and no people or other objects are present. — Fig. 45.60

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: Turner Whistler Monet / Tate Britain 10 February–15 May 2005 / Cat. no. 88 / MONET, Claude 1840–1926 / The Palazzo Dario 1908 / Oil on canvas / 650 × 810 mm / Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, USA) / X05413/ / TATE (fig. 45.61)124

Rectangular off-white museum label in a clear sleeve with black text, read top to bottom, and a small “TATE” at the lower right. Top lines read: “Turner Whistler Monet” and “Tate Britain 10 February – 15 May 2005.” Middle lines list: “Cat no. 88,” “MONET, Claude 1840–1926,” “The Palazzo Dario 1908,” “Oil on canvas,” “650 x 810 mm,” and “Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, USA).” Bottom line shows “X05413/,” with “TATE” positioned at the lower right. — Fig. 45.61

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: 88. Claude Monet / AGO [logo] / French 1840–1926 / The Palazzo Dario, 1908 / oil on canvas / The Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned / Coburn Memorial Collection / Turner Whistler Monet: Impressionist Visions / AGO, Toronto: 12 June to 12 September, 2004 / RMN/Musée d’Orsay, Grand Palais, Paris, / 12 October, 2004 to 17 January, 2005 / Tate, London: 10 February–15 May 2005 / CRATE 14 (fig. 45.62)125

Fig. 45.62

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with typewritten and handwritten script (there appears to be another label underneath)
Content: Kimbell Art Museum / … serving the Fort Worth/Dallas metropolitan community / 3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard / Fort Worth, Texas 76107-2792 / Crate No. 15 / 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 / Palazzo Dario / Oil on canvas, 1908 / Inv. No. W 1757 / The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (fig. 45.63)126

Top left shows a white label with gray text reading “Kimbell Art Museum,” and top right lists “3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas 76107-2792,” with “Crate No.” followed by a handwritten red “15.” Below, a bold underlined title reads “Monet and the Mediterranean,” then two lines list 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 “Claude Monet,” “Palazzo Dario,” “Oil on canvas, 1908,” “Inv. no. W 1757,” and “The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL” in black text; a small glare appears along the right edge. — Fig. 45.63

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.127

Infrared Reflectography

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm) and Inframetrics Infracam with 1.5–1.73 µm filter.128

Transmitted Infrared

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm).129

Visible Light

Normal-light, raking-light, and transmitted-light overalls and macrophotography: Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter.130

Ultraviolet

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter and Kodak Wratten 2E filter.131

High-Resolution Visible Light (and Ultraviolet)

Sinar P3 camera with Sinarback eVolution 75 H (B+W 486 UV/IR cut MRC filter).132

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.133

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)

Several spots on the painting were analyzed in situ with a Bruker/Keymaster TRACeR III-V with rhodium tube.134

Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM)

Zeiss Universal research microscope.135

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 an 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.136

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

A Jobin Yvon Horiba LabRAM 300 confocal Raman microscope was used, equipped with an Andor multichannel, Peltier-cooled, open-electrode charge-coupled device detector (Andor DV420-OE322; 1024×256), an Olympus BXFM open microscope frame, a holographic notch filter, and an 1,800-grooves/mm dispersive grating.137

The excitation line of an air-cooled, frequency-doubled, He-Ne laser (632.8 nm) was focused through a 20× objective onto the samples, and Raman scattering was back collected through the same microscope objective. Power at the samples was kept very low (never exceeding a few mW) by a series of neutral density filters in order to avoid any thermal damage.^[83]138

Automated Thread Counting

Thread count and weave information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software.^[84]139

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.^[85]140

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. 45.64).141

Fig. 45.64
Location/Negative #	Format	Purpose	Date	Lighting, Notes
C39382	8 x 10 color negative	Posttreatment	Unknown	Normal, overall
C11550	B&W negative		1935
C39344	B&W negative	Posttreatment	1974	Normal, overall
Conservation	8 x 10 B&W negative	Pretreatment	Feb. 19, 1974	Normal, overall
Conservation	8 x 10 B&W negative	Pretreatment	Feb. 19, 1974	Ultraviolet, overall
Conservation	4 × 5 B&W negative	Pretreatment	Feb. 19, 1974	Infrared, overall
E14132	4 x 5 CT		Sept. 1988	Normal, overall
Conservation	35 mm color slide	Pretreatment	Apr. 1, 1991	Normal, overall (2 slides)
E23939	4 x 5 CT	Posttreatment	Apr. 29, 1991	Normal, overall;after cleaning
Conservation	35 mm color slide	Posttreatment	May 7, 1991	Normal, overall;after cleaning
G28518	Digital		Mar. 11, 2008	Normal, overall
132281	Digital		Nov. 2008	Annotated image E23939
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 17, 2011	Normal, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 17, 2011	Raking light, overall (2 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 17, 2011	Ultraviolet, overall (2 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 17, 2011	Infrared (Fuji, 1000B/2mm filter), overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 17, 2011	X-ray films scanned/digitally composited, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 18, 2011	Macro details (14 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 20, 2011	Transmitted light, overall (2 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 20, 2011	Transmitted infrared (Fuji, 1000B/2mm filter), overall (2 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	May 31, 2011	Photomicrographs of surface (19 total)
G39807	Digital	OSCI	Apr. 4, 2012	Normal, frame only
G39808	Digital	OSCI	May 4, 2012	Ultraviolet, overall
G39806	Digital	OSCI	Oct. 15, 2012	Normal, overall; compositeof G39806_01–G39806_16
G39806_01–G39806_16	Digital	OSCI	Oct. 15, 2012	Sections (16 total)

Notes

Venice, Palazzo Dario (W1757) corresponds to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 822–24, cat. 1757 (ill.). The Art Institute uses the title that was given to the painting when it was first exhibited at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Venise, held May 28–June 8, 1912. This painting had the following title during the lifetime of the artist:
Apr. 10, 1912: Palais Dario (Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1901–13 [no. 10000]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
May 28, 1912: Le Palais Dario (Bernheim-Jeune, Claude Monet: “Venise,” with a preface by Octave Mirbeau, exh. cat. [Bernheim-Jeune, (1912)], cat. 19; confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Oct. 17, 1912: Venise, Palais Dario, 1908 (Durand-Ruel, New York stock book for 1904–24 [no. 3542]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Dec. 26, 1912: Venise, Palais Dario, 1908 (Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 [no. 3542]; Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
May 27, 1913: Venise, Palais Dario, 1908 (Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 [no. 3647]; Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Jan. 14, 1920: Venise, le Palais Dario (American Art Association, New York, Illustrated Catalogue of Highly Important Old and Modern Paintings of Sterling Artistic Distinction belonging to Mr. Arthur B. Emmons, Newport, to the Estate of the Late Thatcher M. Adams, New York, to the Private Collector Mr. Joseph F. Flanagan, Boston, Collections of the late Mr. Henry Sayles, Boston and Mrs. Harris B. Dick, New York, and Other Estates and Private Owners [American Art Association, Jan. 14, 1920], lot 42 [ill.]. The same title is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York Stock Book 1904–1924 [no. 4408]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Feb. 8, 1923: Venise, Palais Dario, 1908 (Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 [no. 4408]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 50, 52.
Elizabeth Anne McCauley, “Claude Monet (1840–1926) and Mary Hunter (1857–1933),” in Elizabeth Anne McCauley, Alan Chong, Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, and Richard Lingner, Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle, exh. cat. (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2004), p. 240.
For more on the Palazzo Barbaro circle, see Elizabeth Anne McCauley, Alan Chong, Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, and Richard Lingner, Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle, exh. cat. (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2004). Daniel Curtis was a distant relative of Sargent, but their familial ties have been overemphasized in scholarly literature. See in this volume Alan Chong, “Artistic Life in Venice,” p. 94. The group portrait of the Curtis family is An Interior in Venice, 1899, Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Elizabeth Anne McCauley, “Claude Monet (1840–1926) and Mary Hunter (1857–1933),” in Elizabeth Anne McCauley, Alan Chong, Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, and Richard Lingner, Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle, exh. cat. (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2004), p. 240.
Monet to Gustave Geffroy, Dec. 7, 1908, translated in Joachim Pissarro, Monet and the Mediterranean, exh. cat. (Rizzoli/Kimbell Art Museum, 1997), p. 53; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), p. 375, letter 1869.
Alice Monet to Germaine Salerou, Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, 1908; original French in Philippe Piguet, Monet et Venise, preface by Pierre Schneider, rev. ed. (Herscher, 2008), p. 33.
Claude Monet to Paul Durand-Ruel, Oct. 19, 1908; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), p. 374, letter 1861.
Among those who mention his shipment of supplies are Joseph Baillio and Cora Michael, “Highlights of the Exhibition,” in Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), p. 208; Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 50, 53; and Stephen F. Eisenman, “Death and Tourism: Claude Monet’s Paintings of Venice,” in Value: Art: Politics: Criticism, Meaning and Interpretation after Postmodernism, ed. Jonathan Harris (Liverpool University Press, 2007), p. 125. Indeed, Monet had canvases on hand from France; San Giorgio Maggiore (1908; private collection [W1748]) was executed on a canvas stamped by supplier L. Besnard; see conservation object file, Art Institute of Chicago. The numbers preceded by a W refer to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
In her letters to her daughter, Alice describes that she and Monet would stop by the color merchant on their daily walks. See Alice Monet to Germaine Salerou, Oct. 30, 1908 and Nov. 1, 1908; original French in Philippe Piguet, Monet et Venise, preface by Pierre Schneider, rev. ed. (Herscher, 2008), pp. 49, 50. The number preceded by D refers to drawings in the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1991).
Claude Monet to G. or J. Bernheim-Jeune, Apr. 8, 1912, translated in Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 55; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), p. 384, letter 2001d.
The numbers preceded by a W refer to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
The numbers preceded by a W refer to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
English translation from Impressionist and Modern Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture (Part 1), sale cat. (Christie’s, New York, Apr. 30, 1996), p. 75. Original text in Bernheim-Jeune, Claude Monet: “Venise,” with a preface by Octave Mirbeau, exh. cat. (Bernheim-Jeune, [1912]).
The numbers preceded by a W refer to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
Paul Tucker to the author, June 17, 2014, e-mail correspondence. See also Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 56–57.
Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 56–57.
Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 46–47. In this essay, Tucker suggests it is also possible that Monet was providing his own response to new avant-garde artists, particularly the Fauves, who had shaken the Paris art world at the 1905 Salon d’Automne.
Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 824.
“Depuis ce matin, il tombe un petit brouillard très fin, mais qui mouille et est froid. Aussi je pensais que Monet ne pourrait travailler, mais il a heureusement un palais par temps gris et, à l’abri dans la gondola, il a pu faire une séance, seulement je redoute que cela continue et qu’il ne puisse rien faire.” Cited in Alice Monet to Germaine Salerou, Nov. 9, 1908; original French in Philippe Piguet, Monet et Venise, preface by Pierre Schneider, rev. ed. (Herscher, 2008), p. 56.
Stephen F. Eisenman, “Death and Tourism: Claude Monet’s Paintings of Venice,” in Value: Art: Politics: Criticism, Meaning and Interpretation after Postmodernism, ed. Jonathan Harris (Liverpool University Press, 2007), p. 138. The letter Eisenman references is Alice Monet to Germaine Salerou, Oct. 25, 1908; original French in Philippe Piguet, Monet et Venise, preface by Pierre Schneider, rev. ed. (Herscher, 2008), p. 46.
Alice Monet to Germaine Salerou, Oct. 30, 1908; original French in Philippe Piguet, Monet et Venise, preface by Pierre Schneider, rev. ed. (Herscher, 2008), p. 49. See also Paul Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 53.
Claude Monet to G. and J. Bernheim-Jeune, April 1, 1912; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), p. 384, letter 2001b. Translated in Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 57.
Paul Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 55.
The numbers preceded by a W refer to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, “Venice 1908–1912,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 178.
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 signature contains lead white, vermilion, and red lake; other pigments may also be present. See Kimberley Muir, “Mon_Venice_33_446_XRF_Results,” June 15, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Flax was confirmed by microscopic cross-sectional fiber identification. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_446_Monet_Analytical_Report,” May 22, 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. The original dimensions of the painting were based on a visual estimate of the original foldovers. Small discrepancies between the measured dimensions and standard sizes may be a result of this approximation, as well as other factors such as restretching of the painting on a new stretcher after lining.
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, Venice, Palazzo Dario, 1908(W1757/1933.446)”, May 2011. The canvas is very fine and has the highest thread count of all the Monet paintings in the Art Institute collection.
The stronger cusping along the top edge probably represents primary cusping, related to the attachment of the larger canvas (from which this canvas was cut) to the commercial priming frame, while the milder cusping on the other sides is probably secondary cusping, caused when the canvas was mounted on the painting’s original stretcher (see Ground Application).
See examination record of auxiliary support, n.d., on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
John House notes that Monet’s Venetian sketchbook (1908; Musée Marmottan Monet, inv. no 5135) also has an Aickelin label; see House, Monet: Nature Into Art, (Yale University Press, 1988), p. 230. The label is reproduced in James A. Ganz and Richard Kendall, The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute/Yale University Press, 2007), p. 165, fig. 142, and appears to be identical to the label from the stretcher of this painting.
The ground composition was analyzed using SEM/EDX, PLM, and XRF. Paint scraping samples taken in 1974 were reexamined by PLM in 2013. For more detailed results and conditions used, see Inge Fiedler, “1933_446_Monet_Analytical_Report,” May 22, 2014; Inge Fiedler, “1933_446_Monet_PLM_results,” Nov. 13, 2013; Kimberley Muir, “Mon_Venice_33_446_XRF_Results,” June 15, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
If two boats did coexist at some stage, it is possible that, for compositional reasons, the central gondola was lengthened after the other gondola was painted out.
The pigments were identified by the following methods: strontium yellow, vermilion, malachite (PLM, XRF, Raman spectroscopy); lead white, cadmium yellow, viridian, cerulean blue, cobalt blue, cobalt violet (PLM, XRF); red lake (PLM). XRF analysis detected cobalt and arsenic in areas of purple paint, indicating that the cobalt violet is a cobalt arsenate. Zinc was detected in trace to moderate amounts in all areas of the painting analyzed by XRF; further analysis would be required to identify the source of the zinc. Paint scraping samples taken in 1974 were reexamined by PLM in 2014. Analysis was carried out on selected areas and may not include all pigments present in the painting. For more detailed results and conditions used, see Inge Fiedler, “1933_446_Monet_Analytical_Report,” May 22, 2014; Inge Fiedler, “1933_446_Monet_PLM_results,” Nov. 13, 2013; Kimberley Muir, “Mon_Venice_33_446_XRF_Results,” June 15, 2011; Federica Pozzi, “Raman spectroscopy results,” Mar. 7, 2013; Federica Pozzi, “Raman spectroscopy results,” June 16, 2014, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
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.
See Anton Konrad, examination report, Nov. 14, 1959, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See treatment notes, Dec. 22, 1959, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Alfred Jakstas, treatment report, June 25, 1974, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Cynthia Kuniej, treatment report, Apr. 22, 1991, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Kristin Lister, treatment report, June 25, 2002, 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.
Kirk Vuillemot, “Monet Frame Descriptions Final,” Dec. 3, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1901–13 (no. 10000, as Palais Dario): “Purchased from Monet with Bernheim-Jeune (half share) by DR Paris on 10 April 1912 for 10 000 F / Stock DR Paris no. 10000; photo no. 7266 / (Bernheim-Jeune stock no. 19267, no. 19 of the exhibition),” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The Paris and New York Durand-Ruel stock books record different dates for the sale. The Paris stock book states: “Sold to DR New York on 11 October 1911.” The New York stock book for 1904–24 states: “Purchased by DR New York on 17 October 1912 as Venise, Palais Dario, 1908 / Stock DR New York no. 3542,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 3542, as Venise, Palais Dario, 1908): “sold to A. B Emmons on 26 December 1912 for $7 500,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 3647, as Venise, Palais Dario, 1908): “purchased from A. B. Emmons on 27 May 1913 for 37 600 F / Stock DR New York no. 3647,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book 1904–1924 (no. 3647, as Venise, Palais Dario, 1908): “sold to A.B Emmons on 27 May 1913 for $6 500,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. About this May 27, 1913 transaction, the Durand-Ruel Archives references a letter from Durand-Ruel, New York, to Durand-Ruel, Paris, dated May 26, 1913, which states: “il (Mr. Emmons) prend 5 tableaux de Monet, et les paiera le 1er Juillet – mais conserve le droit – dont il n’usera probablement pas, de n’en prendre que [blank]. L’affaire étant faite, vu son importance, avec une réduction de 20% s/ [sic] les prix marqués, je préfère pour la régularité, racheter à Mr. Emmons la vue de Venise qu’on lui avait vendue précédemment, et la lui revendre au nouveau prix.”
According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, “purchased by DR New York and Knoedler (half share for each) on 14 January 1920 at the Emmons, Flanagan, Sayles sale at the American Art Association (lot no. 42: Venise, le Palais Dario), for $ 5,800 [from the annotated catalogue of the sale] / Stock DR New York no. 4408.” This transaction is also recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book 1904–1924; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. See also American Art Association, New York, Illustrated Catalogue of Highly Important Old and Modern Paintings of Sterling Artistic Distinction belonging to Mr. Arthur B. Emmons, Newport, to the Estate of the Late Thatcher M. Adams, New York, to the Private Collector Mr. Joseph F. Flanagan, Boston, Collections of the late Mr. Henry Sayles, Boston and Mrs. Harris B. Dick, New York, and Other Estates and Private Owners (American Art Association, Jan. 14, 1920), lot 42 (ill.). An annotated version of the sale catalogue is located in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, Art Institute of Chicago.
This is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 4408, as Venise, Palais Dario, 1908): “Sold to Mrs. A.S. Coburn on 8 February 1923 for $ 9 735 + tax,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 822–24, cat. 1757 (ill.); 1021. According to Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 244: “Seven of Monet’s Venice paintings are exhibited at the Brooks Reed Gallery, Boston.”
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 822–24, cat. 1757 (ill.); 1023.
The exhibition catalogue lists the dates as June 1–Nov. 1, 1934, but newspaper articles confirm 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.
According to shipping out order A671, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; and receipt of objects 12435, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
Remington Rand was located at 444 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. See shipping out order A1107, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; receipt of object 12931, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to shipping out order A2550, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; and receipt of object 13906, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago. The shipping out order records that the painting was on loan for study purposes from March 1–20, 1954.
According to receipt of objects 14474, and Museum Registrar’s department artists sheets, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to receipt of objects 14807, and Museum Registrar’s department artists sheets, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to shipping out order A4298, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; receipt of object 14851, Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago. Exhibition dates are noted on the shipping out order.
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.
Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 822–24, cat. 1757 (ill.); 995.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 822–24, cat. 1757 (ill.); 999.
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. 322.
Also published as Katharine Lochnan, “Turner, Whistler, Monet: An Artistic Dialogue,” in Turner; Whistler; Monet, ed. Katharine Lochnan, exh. cat. (Tate Publishing/Art Gallery of Ontario, 2004), p. 35.
Also published as John House, “Tinted Steam: Turner and Impressionism,” in Turner; Whistler; Monet, ed. Katharine Lochnan, exh. cat. (Tate Publishing/Art Gallery of Ontario, 2004), p. 49.
Also published as Sylvie Patin, “The Last Act: Turner, Whistler and Monet in Venice,” in Turner; Whistler; Monet, ed. Katharine Lochnan, exh. cat. (Tate Publishing/Art Gallery of Ontario, 2004), pp. 206; 212; 213, no. 88; 214, no. 88 (ill.).
Also illustrated in the Italian version of this article: Stephen Eisenman, “Turismo e morte: I dipinti veneziani di Claude Monet,” in Monet: I luoghi della pittura, ed. Marco Goldin, trans. Viviana Tonon, exh. cat. (Linea d’Ombra, 2001), p. 190 (ill.).
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), p. 187, cat. 102 (ill.).
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The label was located on the pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); preserved in conservation file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
John House, Monet: Nature Into Art, (Yale University Press, 1988), p. 230, notes that Monet’s Venetian sketchbook (1908; Musée Marmottan Monet, inv. no 5135) also has an Aickelin supplier’s label. The label is reproduced in James A. Ganz and Richard Kendall, The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven/Yale University Press, 2007), p. 165, fig. 142, and appears to be identical to the label from the stretcher of this painting.
For a discussion of sample preparation and the use of SERS to identify red lake pigments, see Federica Pozzi, Klaas Jan van den Berg, Inge Fiedler, and Francesca Casadio, “A Systematic Analysis of Red Lake Pigments in French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS),” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy (forthcoming 2014); doi:10.1002/jrs.4483.
See Don H. Johnson, C. Richard Johnson, Jr., Andrew 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 Jill Shaw; Technical Report by Kimberley Muir and Kirk Vuillemot, “Cat. 45 Venice, Palazzo Dario, 1908,” 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/10.53269/9780865592698/31.

Download printable PDF

About

works of art

Appendix