Description
| Year of creation: | 1879 |
| Original size: | 68 cm x 90 cm |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Located: | Musée d’Orsay, Paris |
Camille Monet on Her Deathbed is a hand-painted oil reproduction of Monet’s 1879 work: a face with closed eyes rises out of a storm of violet and grey-lilac strokes that take up the whole canvas.
Camille Monet on Her Deathbed, 1879 – Claude Monet
What is on the canvas
The canvas stands upright. Left of centre and a little higher lies a face, seen slightly from
above, eyes closed and the head tilted to one side. Everything around it is dissolved into
strokes: bedding and veil drag in wide curves across the whole surface, so the face does not
stand in front of a background but separates out of one. Low in the centre sits a smaller nest
of darker marks with reds, oranges and yellows — something lies there, painted too quickly to
say more than that it rests on the bed. Further down and to the right runs a dark diagonal
stroke. In the upper right corner a warm brown-red patch appears, the only sizeable warm area.
The canvas is signed at the lower right.
One colour and countless strokes
What is unusual is how little colour there is: the whole work sits on a violet-grey scale,
from cool lilac to near white. Warmth appears only in that upper right corner and in the small
nest below. That is exactly why the scene does not work as a portrait but as the record of a
movement of the hand. The strokes run in curves and cross one another; not one of them
describes an object, and together they nonetheless assemble a face. This oil on canvas
reproduction dissolves into pure brushwork up close and only reassembles from a few metres
away. The paint stands dense and raised in places, thin in others, so light breaks across the
surface unevenly.
The motif in Monet’s work
Camille recurs in Monet, but almost always outdoors and in movement. That is precisely what
makes this scene the exception. Related placements of the figure are offered by
Woman with a Parasol and
Woman with a Parasol (Facing Left),
and the group version in a garden by Women in the Garden.
How far Monet took the dissolved stroke in landscape is shown by
Impression, Sunrise.
Museum and record
The original is held by the Musée d’Orsay in Paris under accession number
RF 1963 3. The museum record lists it as oil on canvas measuring 68 x 90 cm
and gives the year as 1879. The title we use is the title in that record;
about the circumstances of its making we write nothing the record does not carry.
How it behaves on a wall
The upright format, close to 3 : 4, grows in height and does not ask for a wide wall. Because
the whole work sits on a single scale, it reads best against a neutral, light grey or white
wall; in front of a strongly coloured wall the violet loses its measure. 50 x 65 cm and
60 x 80 cm suit a narrow space or a place in a group hang. 68 x 90 cm is exactly the
size of the original and is therefore the most faithful choice. 80 x 110 cm and
90 x 120 cm are usual above a chest of drawers, 100 x 130 cm above a sofa. 110 x 150 cm and
120 x 160 cm are for tall walls where the brushwork gets room. As wall decor this motif wants
quiet surroundings and a little space around it.
Hand-painted, not a print
This hand-painted canvas art is made with a brush rather than a printer, and with this motif
the difference is at its greatest. A print lays colour in an evenly thin film, the surface stays
equally smooth throughout and the stroke becomes mere pattern. Here the stroke is the subject
itself: the paint stands raised in places and thin in others, shadow falls into the furrow of
the brush and travels as you cross the room. A canvas print cannot imitate that, because there
is nothing on it to cast a shadow. Being handwork, each copy differs a little, so a fine art
reproduction of this kind stays a single object.
Custom sizes, frame, ordering and lead time
If none of the eight sizes fits, we paint to the size you set, keeping the ratio of the
sides. A 3D application is available for the frame — it is for frame selection
only and does not place the work in your room; the separate visualisation service does
that. The lead time is 15 to 45 days, because the work is painted to order.
Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished piece for approval. Further
reproductions on canvas and famous paintings on canvas are in the
Claude Monet gallery.
- Subject: a face with closed eyes, lifted out of curves of violet-grey strokes that cover the whole canvas.
- Technique: oil on canvas; paint raised in places, thin in others, the stroke visible throughout.
- Sizes: upright format, eight sizes from 50 x 65 cm to 120 x 160 cm; 68 x 90 cm is the size of the original.
- Worth knowing: warmth appears only in the upper right corner and the small nest below — everything else sits on one violet-grey scale.
