Sold – Monet Anxiously Awaits a Return to Painting

Frantz Jourdain, architect and art critic, was a contemporary of Monet who held the artist in high esteem. He wrote in La Revue Independante in March 1889 that he was “dazzled” by the independence of Monet’s art.  “M. Claude Monet, he owes nothing to anybody and never has he begged anyone’s support, and never has he executed gallant pirouettes in order to attract the customer.  He scarcely pays attention to what one thinks or to what one says about him.”  Later that year, the two men traveled together with friends to the Creuse Valley; this would prove to be Monet’s last major trip for five years, and it was a productive one.  His time there paved the way for his great productivity in the 1890s and also helped Monet deepen the friendship with Jourdain.  1890 saw a flourishing of Monet’s works, with a series of paintings in and around Giverny, where that year he bought a house that would remain his home for the rest of his life.  On the doorstep of this great period, Monet wrote Jourdain, hoping to see him but seemingly more excited to return to painting. 

Autograph Letter Signed, Giverny par Vernon, January 14, 1890, to “My Dear Jourdain,” delaying getting together so he can recuperate and resume painting. “I am not able to visit tomorrow.  I have been confined to my room for 10 days now, more than I was for that terrible Influenza.  How ridiculous.  Out of prudence I prefer not to risk exposure, so that I may quickly return to work.  Therefore, I will come on the 10th of February.  My friendship to you, Claude Monet.”

A search of auctions records shows no letters from Monet to Jourdain having been sold in at least the last three decades.