Vineyards in the Snow, Looking Towards the Mill at Orgemont (Primary Title)
Vetheuil: Grapevines in Winter, A View of Montmartre (Alternate Title)
Claude Monet, French, 1840 - 1926 (Artist)
Although Argenteuil was only a short train ride from Paris, it was a drastically different environment than the bustling city. During the period when Monet resided there, Argenteuil was an agricultural town in flux. The expansion of both the Paris suburbs and the railroad made it an increasingly popular location for day trippers enjoying boating on the Seine as well as emerging industry. Yet Monet focuses his attention not on these signs of modern life along the river, but instead looks north towards the vineyard, referencing Argenteuil’s historic role as a site of wine production. Although Monet’s landscapes often feature verdant fields with flowers in bloom, as seen elsewhere in this gallery, in this work he depicts barren grapevines blanketed with a fresh coat of winter snow. Composed with rapid brushstrokes and cool, grey tones, the painting simultaneously conveys the rural charm of Argenteuil that made the community so appealing to Monet and his colleagues and the innovative techniques that became hallmarks of Impressionism.
2019-2021: Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Their Times: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, February 2 - May 5, 2019; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, April 4, 2020 - January 10, 2021
2018-2019: "Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, March 17 - July 15, 2018; Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 22 - September 22, 2019
Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, KS, October 19, 2013 - January 19, 2014; Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, February 22 - May 25, 2014
Claude Monet and His Friends, organized by the Mainichi Newspapers, Musee d’Art Moderne, Ibaraki, Mito, Japan, October 1 - November 7, 1988; Musee Prefectoral de Fukushima, Fukushima, Japan, November 12 - December 25, 1988; Musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, January - February 28, 1989
Claude Monet, 1840-1926, Museo Espanol de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid, April 29 - June 30, 1986
Degas, Virginia Musuem of Fine Arts, May 23 - July 9, 1978
19th Century French Paintings from the Virginia Museum, Roanoke Fine Arts Center, Roanoke, VA, February 11 - March 12, 1978
The Nature of Landscape, Artmobile exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, September 1975 - December 1976
Paintings of Monet, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, March 15 - May 11, 1975
Encounter II: Color, Artmobile exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, September 1972 - February 1974
Lynchburg Fine Arts Center, Lynchburg, VA, Fall 1962
The Williams Collection, Artmobile exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, September 6, 1965 - January 24, 1966
Landscape Paintings 1650-1960, Artmobile exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, March 11 - May 18, 1963
Ausstellung Franzosischer Malerei des XIX. Jahrhunderts, Galerie Ernst Arnold, Dresden, April - May, 1914, No. 72
Monet, Goupil, London, 1889, No. XVI
[1] A letter dated March 10, 1998 from John Leighton, Director of the Van Gogh Museum, and addressed to Katherine C. Lee, then Director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, explains that Theo Van Gogh [1857-1891] purchased the painting from Durand-Ruel on April 9, 1888 for Boussod, Valadon et Cie, previously known as Goupil et Cie. Theo Van Gogh was reputedly the director of the Montmartre branch at this time. The painting was subsequently sold to the art collector Heilbuth on August 4, 1893. See VMFA Curatorial file.
[2] Probably the art collector Hermann Heilbuth [1861-1945] of Copenhagen, Denmark. Unconfirmed.
[3] Possibly the art collector Adolf Rothermundt, born in St. Petersburg in 1846 and who emigrated to Dresden, Germany, where he died in 1930.
[4] Leo Lewin sold the painting at auction at Cassirer & Helbing in Berlin on April 12, 1927. See Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue Raisonne, Volume II (Koln: Taschen, 1996), 110.
[5] Unclear if the painting was in the personal collection of the German art dealer, Paul Cassirer [1871-1926] or part of his gallery inventory. See Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue Raisonne, Volume II (Koln: Taschen, 1996), 110.
[6] Unconfirmed which of the Knoedler locations the painting resided, c. 1931. See Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue Raisonne, Volume II (Koln: Taschen, 1996), 110.
[7] Accessioned October 19, 1960.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
