Jaume Vilallonga (1861-1904) - Church at Giverny (France)

Jaume Vilallonga (1861-1904) - Church at Giverny (France)

Signed and dated in the lower left corner: “J. Vilallonga Paris 1887”. Oil on canvas. With its original period frame in veneered wood and gilded brass nails. Measures: 89 x 116 cm (canvas); 122 x 150 x 7 cm (frame).

Original work by the Catalan painter Jaume Vilallonga (Barcelona 1861 - Tossa de Mar 1904). This painting shows the church in the town of Giverny, northwest of Paris, famous today for being the place where from 1883 Claude Monet moved his residence, first renting and then acquiring his house and workshop, which can be visited today. There he created his famous garden, a source of inspiration for numerous pictorial compositions and also a meeting place for artists of the time. Perhaps Jaume Vilallonga could have met Monet in Giverny, since the canvas we present here is dated by the Catalan painter in 1887, the year of the master's safe residence in that town. Let us remember that during that interval of time 1887/1888 Vilallonga was working in Paris at the Louvre Museum, enjoying the mastery of the painter Collant and training at the prestigious Colarossi Academy, where artists such as Anglada Camarasa, Nonell, Maillol, Gauguin, Grosz, Modigliani or Mucha attended.

Claude Monet died in Giverny and his remains rest there.

Reference bibliography:

Gener, Pompeyus: On Jaume Vilallonga. In “Ilustració Catalana”, Any III, Barcelona, 6 d'Agosto de 1905, n.º 114, pp. 507 and ss.