Jean-Pierre Hoschedé and Michel Monet on the Banks of the Epte by Monet

THE STORY BEHIND MONET'S PAINTING

The river Epte, a tributary of the Seine, flows east to west past the French village of Giverny, where Monet had moved his family in 1883. The scene is painted with Monet standing on the south side of the river, looking toward land he would later own, remaining there for the rest of his life.

The two boys in the painting, just a year apart in age, were inseparable companions, and here they are dressed identically. In 1892 Monet married Jean-Pierre’s mother, Alice, but the boys had long had a brotherly relationship, and the painting is very much a scene of Monet’s family life, in a landscape that was their home. The painting stayed with the family for a generation after Monet’s death.

While it was surely begun outside, it was worked in multiple sessions, and the overall look and atmosphere achieved through considered applications of paint in the studio. During these years Monet was moving away from the direct capture of visual effect – a hallmark of “Impressionism” - toward a more mature form of painting that emphasized tonal harmony and atmosphere above depiction of a moment.

These experiments would ultimately lead him to his paintings of Water Lillies, canvases that are as much abstract as they are representational. Despite this tendency toward effect over appearance, the tint selection is still guided by observation, giving us a clear impression of a crisp morning in the early Spring, one on which your breath makes plumes in the chilly air.

The full range of tints used can only be seen under daylight, the light in which the painting was born, and we recommend a cooler light for full enjoyment of the replication.