Corner of the Garden at Montgeron

Created at the very height of Impressionism by the leader of the movement, Claude Monet, this work is a typical example of how the Impressionist artists sought to convey a passing glimpse or impression of nature as seen by the human eye. For this purpose Monet took as his motif a blooming garden, and very successfully created an image of vivid, changing nature. The colouring, founded on the eye's combination at a distance of what are in fact separate brushstrokes of pure colour, is suffused with daylight and air, and the dynamics of this plein-air effect are reinforced by the vibrant paint surface. One of four decorative panels intended to adorn the large drawing room of the chateau of Rottenburg at Montgeron, it was commissioned by the owner of the residence, the financier Ernest Hoschede, one of the first patrons of the Impressionists. The three other works painted for the chateau are "Corner of the Garden at Montgeron" (St Petersburg, Hermitage), "Turkeys" (Paris, Louvre) and "The Hunt" (Paris, priv. coll.).