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

MONET CLAUDE: (1840-1926) Monet leads the surviving Impressionists in resistance to being included in the 1900 Universal Exhibition - ´ we have had enough trouble making a name for ourselves´ - MONET CLAUDE: (1840-1926) French Impressionist painter. An interesting A.L.S., Claude Monet , three pages, 8vo, Giverny par Vernon, Eure, 22nd January 1900, to [Paul] Gallimard ( ´Mon cher ami´ ), on black bordered mourning stationery, in French. Monet writes in his characteristic bold purple ink and seeks a favour from his correspondent, explaining ´Voici ce dont il s´agit, le comité de l´exposition centennale de 1900 sans en avoir un seul moment fait part à Renoir, Degas, Pissarro et moi, recrute paraît-il des tableaux chez les amateurs et compte exposer sans nous consulter même sur le choix. Nous sommes absolument décidés à nous opposer à cela et pour ma part je viens d´en informer Mr. Roger Marx qui a la direction de cette exposition´ (Translation: ´Here is the situation: the committee for the 1900 Centenary Exhibition, without ever having consulted Renoir, Degas, Pissarro or myself, is apparently collecting paintings from private collectors and intends to exhibit them without even consulting us on the selection. We are absolutely determined to oppose this, and for my part I have just informed Mr Roger Marx, who is in charge of this exhibition´ ) and continuing ´Je viens donc vous prier de ne rien prêter de moi vous me désobligeriez beaucoup en le faisant et je vous connais assez pour savoir que je peux compter sur vous´ (Translation: ´I therefore ask you not to lend anything on my behalf; you would be doing me a great disservice if you did, and I know you well enough to know that I can count on you´ ). Monet further reflects ´Il me semble que nous avons eu assez de mal à faire notre trou et sans le concours de l´administration pour qu´aujourd´hui, on ai au moins la politesse de nous demander notre assentiment lorsqu´il s´agit d´une exposition officielle´ (Translation: ´It seems to me that we have had enough trouble making a name for ourselves, and without the support of the authorities, so that today, we should at least be shown the courtesy of asking for our consent when it comes to an official exhibition´ ) and concludes by adding that a brief response from Gallimard would please him and put his mind at rest. Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Monet (large tear to the front panel, evidently caused at the time of opening the envelope, and just affecting a couple of letters). A letter of fine content in which Monet, brimming with defiance through hard-won legitimacy after years of dismissal, refuses to let the establishment claim Impressionism on its own terms. VG Paul Gallimard (1850-1929) French art collector, bibliophile and theatre owner, the father of the publisher Gaston Gallimard. Gallimard´s art collection included many works by Impressionists including Monet, Degas, Manet and his friend Renoir, who was represented by sixteen works alone. Roger Marx (1859–1913) French art critic, civil servant, and collector who championed the avant-garde, modern printmaking, and decorative arts during the fin de siècle. Marx served as Secrétaire des Beaux-Arts (1882) and Directeur de l'Administration des Beaux-Arts (1887) and played a crucial part in providing a platform for 19th-century French art at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. In his biography of Monet Daniel Wildenstein provides the background to the content of the present letter, ´Seen from France, and especially from Paris, 1900 was above all the year of the great Parisian Universal Exhibition. It would be many years before there was another undertaking on such a scale. The Palais de l´Industrie was razed to make way for the Grand and Petit Palais, which were to house the prestigious fine arts display. This was divided into three sections: a retrospective exhibition covering French art from its origins up to 1800; a centennial exhibition which, despite its title, covered only the period from 1800 to 1889, the latter date being that of the previous Universal Exhibition; and a contemporary or decennial exhibition, the only international section which constituted a sort of enlarged Salon. Here the regulars of the Artistes Français were, for once, brought together with representatives of the Societé Nationale des Beaux-Arts in a selection of works dated between 1889 and 1900. Early that year, a rumour reached the four surviving Impressionists that they might have to participate willy-nilly. It is not clear whether they were to be included only in the Centennial, as a letter from Renoir seems to imply, or whether the organisers also had them in mind for the Decennial, as Durand-Ruel believed. What is certain is that as soon as the painters got wind of the official initiative, they united in resistance to it. In the past they had complained that their work was always refused.