On the advice of the French painter Charles-François Daubigny, Claude Monet traveled to the Netherlands in 1871, where he painted this landscape of limpid waters and azure skies along the Achterzaan River in Zaandam. Writing to fellow Impressionist Camille Pissarro, Monet noted the pleasures of painting the picturesque Dutch landscape: "This is a superb place for painting. There are the most amusing things everywhere: hundreds of windmills and enchanting boats, extremely friendly Dutchmen…" Using a limited palette of varying shades of green, Monet has captured the hazy atmosphere and light-dappled water of this picturesque Dutch port. Monet's Dutch landscapes were widely admired by other contemporary artists, especially Daubigny, whose own studies of light and water share an affinity.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Houses on the Achterzaan
Artist:Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)
Date:1871
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:17 3/8 × 26 1/2 in. (44.1 × 67.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Object Number:1975.1.196
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): Claude Monet.72
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1910; Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Berlin (1875-1935), purchased before 1914; Mrs. Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (later Gräfin; Mrs. Elsa von Kesselstadt, 1899-1986), by descent; [Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich, 1961]; acquired from Feilchenfeldt by Robert Lehman, New York, 1961.
Daniel Wildenstein. Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné. Vol. 1, Lausanne and Paris, 1974-91.
Daniel Wildenstein. Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné. Vol. 5, Lausanne and Paris, 1974–91.
George Szabo. The Robert Lehman Collection: A Guide. New York, 1975.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artist Born before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. Vol. 1, New York, 1980.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artist Born before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. Vol. 3, New York, 1980.
Paul Hayes Tucker. Monet at Argenteuil. New Haven, 1981.
Galerie des Beaux-Arts. Profil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de Ramsès à Picasso. Exh. cat.Bordeaux, 1981.
George Szabo. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: XIX & XX Century Paintings from the Robert Lehman Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat.Oaklohoma City, 1983.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 1983.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985.
Monet: A Retrospective. New York, 1985.
Ronald Pickvance. Monet in Holland. Exh. cat.Amsterdam, 1986.
George Szabo. Franske mestervaerker: Malerier og tegninger fra det 19. og 20. århundrede fra Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / French Masterpieces: XIX and XX Century Paintings and Drawings, from the Robert Lehman Collection of the Metrop. Exh. cat.Copenhagen, 1986.
Mark Haworth-Booth. Camille Silvy: River Scene, France. Malibu, 1992.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 1994.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artist Born before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995.
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet. Vol. 2, Cologne, 1996.
Timothy J. Newbery. The Robert Lehman Collection: Frames. Vol. 13, New York, 2007.
Richard R. Brettell, Paul Hayes Tucker, Natalie H. Lee. The Robert Lehman Collection: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Paintings. Vol. 3, New York, 2009.
Stuart Kallen. Claude Monet. Detroit , 2009.
Martijn Couwenhoven, Bas Husslage, Jacob Reitsma. 1871 Monet Zaandam. Wormer, 2011.
Lynne D. Ambrosini, Frances Fowle, Maite van Dijk. Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape. Exh. cat.Edinburgh, 2015.
Lynne D. Ambrosini, Frances Fowle, Maite van Dijk. Inspiring Impressionism: Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh. Exh. cat.Edinburgh, 2015.
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The Robert Lehman Collection is one of the most distinguished privately assembled art collections in the United States. Robert Lehman's bequest to The Met is a remarkable example of twentieth-century American collecting.
