Bidspirit auction | MONET CLAUDE: (1840-1926) Monet writes

MONET CLAUDE: (1840-1926) Monet writes to an important, early mentor - MONET CLAUDE: (1840-1926) French Impressionist painter. A.L.S., Claude Monet , two pages (written to the first and final sides of the bifolium), 8vo, Dévilles les Rouen, 27th October 1890, to [Armand] Gautier, in French. Monet writes in his characteristic purple ink and states ´Votre lettre me parvient ici avec un jour de retard et je me hâte de vous prévenir de mon adresse afin que vous ne fassiez pas immédiatement le voyage de Giverny´ (Translation: ´Your letter reached me here a day late, and I am writing at once to let you know my address so that you do not make the journey to Giverny straight away´ ), continuing to add ´Je ne sais au juste quand je rentrerai mais je puis vous dire que d´ici peu je vais être obligé de venir à Paris. Si donc vous avez quelque chose de pressant à me dire, écrivez-moi à cette adresse: M. Claude Monet à Dévilles les Rouen, Seine inférieure´ (Translation: ´I do not know exactly when I shall return, but I can tell you that I shall soon be obliged to come to Paris. So if you have anything urgent to tell me, write to me at this address: Mr Claude Monet, Dévilles-les-Rouen, Seine-Inférieure´ ). In a postscript, signed with his initials ( ´C.M.´ ) Monet explains ´L´hiver est justement où je m´absente le plus souvent et où l´on a moins de chances de me trouver à Giverny´ (Translation: ´Winter is precisely when I am away most often and when you are least likely to find me in Giverny´ ). A letter of good association. Two small pieces of tape to the verso, strengthening two small, neat splits in the upper and lower edges of the central vertical fold in the bifolium, otherwise VG Armand Gautier (1825-1894) French painter and lithographer. Gautier, a close friend of Monet for many years, served as an important mentor and advisor early in Monet's career. Monet´s letter is written very shortly before he acquired the beloved property (having rented it since 1883) that would remain his home for the remainder of his life. In her biography of the artist, Jackie Wullschlager writes: ´It happened that at the moment of [Ernest] Hoschedé´s decline, the Maison du Pressoir came up for sale and Monet bought it, for 22,000 francs. His banker was the forgiving Durand-Ruel. Of Monet´s other dealers, relations with Petit had cooled and Theo Van Gogh, distraught at his brother´s death, had entered Dr. Blanche´s sanatorium in Passy and had only three months to live. ´The only obstacle to the business between us was that poor Van Gogh, who has ended up so pitifully. He put a spoke in our wheel, and I have never really understood your fondness for him. Now he is gone, you may count on me absolutely´, Durand-Ruel exulted to Pissarro. The dealer was as delighted to make himself indispensable to Monet. On 17 November, three days after his fiftieth birthday, Monet became a homeowner. He told Durand-Ruel that he would never find another place as suitable. or set in as beautiful landscape.´ (from Monet: The Restless Vision , 2023, p.303).