Study of Rocks; Creuse: 'Le Bloc'
Study of Rocks; Creuse
ArtistClaude Monet
Year1889
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions72.4 cm × 91.4 cm (28.5 in × 36.0 in)

Study of Rocks; Creuse: 'Le Bloc' is an 1889 painting by Claude Monet. It is an oil on canvas and measures 72.4 x 91.4 cm.[1]

Monet gave the painting to Georges Clemenceau in 1899 according to Daniel Wildenstein, though Clemenceau is cited as the owner in an 1891 exhibition catalogue.[2] Clemenceau nicknamed the painting 'Le Bloc' ('The Rock').[3] The painting was one of fourteen that were exhibited in a joint exhibition with Auguste Rodin at Georges Petit's Parisian gallery in June 1889.[3]

Paul Hayes Tucker, the curator of the 1990 exhibition Monet in the '90s: The Series Paintings, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, described the painting as "majestic".[1]

The painting was reproduced in a copy by the British artist Gerald Kelly in 1939. Kelly's version is now in a private collection.[3]

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother bought the painting for £2,000 in 1949 (equivalent to £75,174 in 2021); it was worth an estimated £15 million at the time of her death in 2002.[4] The dramatist and performer Noël Coward was also an amateur artist and arranged a visit to Clarence House specially to see Study of Rocks.[5]

Description

The painting depicts a hillside covered with rocks and crags; a blue sky with clouds hangs above the scene, with branches on the left hand side against the sky.[3] The location of the painting is a rocky outcrop that rises above the confluence of two sources of the river Creuse. The painting is one of a series of 24 that Monet painted inspired by the landscapes around the village of Fresselines in the department of Creuse.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Paul Hayes Tucker (1990). Monet in the '90s: The Series Paintings. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-300-04913-8.
  2. ^ Brettell, Richard (Autumn 1984). "Monet's Haystacks Reconsidered" (PDF). Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies. 11 (1): 4–21. doi:10.2307/4115885. JSTOR 4115885. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Study of Rocks; Creuse: Le Bloc". Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  4. ^ Stephen Bates (3 April 2002). "The gamble that foiled the taxman". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  5. ^ Susan Owens (2005). Watercolours and Drawings from the Collection of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Royal Collection. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-902163-78-9.
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