Rounded Flower Bed (Corbeille de fleurs), 1876

  • Claude Monet, French, 1840-1926

Oil on canvas

  • Unframed: 23 3/8 inches × 32 inches × 11/16 inches (59.3 × 81.3 × 1.8 cm)
  • 37 5/8 × 46 1/4 × 5 3/8 inches, 59 pounds (95.6 × 117.5 × 13.7 cm, 26.8 kg)

City of Detroit Purchase

21.71

On View

  • Modern, Level 2, Central

Department

European Modern Art to 1970

Monet's garden at Argenteuil near Paris provided the subject matter for this painting: a flower bed of tall gladioli shimmering in the light. The figure standing under an umbrella is the artist's wife, Camille, enjoying a leisurely stroll. Rather than being the focal point of the painting, she is merely a figure used to define the space. The flower bed itself dominates the composition. Using thick, short brushstrokes that appear as dabs at close range but synthesize at a distance, and juxtaposing red and pink blossoms against green foliage, Monet simulates the shimmering visual sensations experienced on a hot summer day.

Signed, lower right: Claude Monet

1877, probably sold by the artist to Georges Charpentier (Paris, France). by 1913, Nicolas Auguste Hazard [d. 1913] (Orrouy, France)

1913, by descent to his widow, Mme. Hazard [d. 1919] (Orrouy, France)

December 1-3, 1919, sold by (Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, France) Hazard estate sale, lot 200

1919, purchased by (Galerie Barbazanges, Paris, France)

by 1921, acquired by (Howard Young Galleries, New York, New York, USA)

1921-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Probably Catalogue de la 3e exposition de peinture. Exh. cat., 6 Rue le Peletier. Paris, April 1877, p. 9, cat. 106. [As Corbeille de fleurs, appartient à M. Charpentier] Catalogue des tableaux modernes...Composant la Collection de M. Hazard (Première partie). Sales cat., Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 1–3, 1919, p. 98, no. 200 (ill.). [As "Les Glaïeuls"] Barbazanges Gallery. "Important Examples by Old and Modern Masters. [Advertisement]" The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 36, no. 205 (April 1920): x (ill.). Barbazanges Gallery. "Important Examples by Old and Modern Masters. [Advertisement]" The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 36, no. 206 (May 1920): x (ill.). P[oland], R[eginald]. "In Monet's Garden." Bulletin of the DIA 3, no. 1 (1921): pp. 7–8 (ill.). (As "Les Gladioles") “Purchases for the Collections” Bulletin of the DIA 3, no. 4 (January 1922): p. 39. Réau, Louis. L'Art Français aux Etats-Unis. Paris, 1926, p. 164. Heil, Walter. Catalogue of Paintings in the Permanent Collection of The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, 1930, unpaginated, no. 147. Wilenski, Reginald Howard. French Painting. Boston, 1931, p. 257. (Also see 3rd rev. ed. 1973, p. 234) Newberry, John S. “The Age of Impressionism & Realism: Detroit’s Anniversary Exhibit.” The Art News 38, no. 31 (1940): pp. 9–10 (ill.), back cover, no. 30. Richardson, Edgar P., ed. The Detroit Institute of Arts: Catalogue of Paintings. Detroit, 1944, p. 91, no. 147. A Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Claude Monet for the Benefit of the Children of Giverny. Exh. cat., Wildenstein and Co. New York, 1945, pp. 30 (ill.), 34, no. 19. Richardson, Edgar P. Twentieth Century Painting. Detroit, 1947, p. 12. Reuterswärd, Oscar. Monet: En konstnärshistorik. Stockholm, 1948, pp. 149, 280 (ill.) French Painting: David to Cezanne. Exh. cat., Norton Gallery and School of Art. Palm Beach, 1953, unpaginated. The Two Sides of the Medal: French Painting from Gérôme to Gauguin. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1954, pp. 32, no. 46; 37 (ill.). Seitz, William C. Claude Monet, a loan exhibition. Exh. cat., Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Minneapolis, 1957, no. 21 (ill.). Rouart, Denis and Léon Degand. Claude Monet: Historical and Critical Study. Lausanne, 1958, p. 65 (ill.). Masterpieces of Art: In Memory of William R. Valentiner 1880–1958. Exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art. Raleigh, 1959, pp. 175; 199, no. 109 (ill.). Grigaut, Paul L. Treasures from The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1960, p. 210 (ill.). 500 Years of Flowers and Gardens in Western Art. Exh. cat., Cummer Gallery. Jacksonville, 1962, unpaginated, no. 16 (ill.). Masters of Landscape: East and West. Exh. cat. Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. Utica, 1963, p. 56, no. 52 (ill.). Kuroe, Mitsuhiko. Monet. Tokyo, 1970, p. 117, cat. 16, pl. 18 (ill.). Blunden, Maria and Godfrey Blunden. Impressionists and Impressionism. New York, 1970, p. 122 (ill.). Cummings, Frederick J. and Charles H. Elam, eds. The Detroit Institute of Arts Illustrated Handbook. Detroit, 1971, p. 158 (ill.). Bortolatto, Luigina Rossi. L’opera Completa di Claude Monet: 1870–1889. Milan, 1972, pp. 16, 94, no. 84, pl. 9 (ill.). Wildenstein, Daniel. Claude Monet: Biographie et Catalogue Raisonné, vol 1. Paris, 1974, pp. 292–293, no. 414 (ill.). Wise, Susan, ed. Paintings by Monet. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1975, pp. 28; 88, no. 34 (ill.). Isaacson, Joel. Claude Monet: Observation and Reflection. Oxford, 1978, pp. 21, 208, no. 51 (ill.). Monet. Exh. cat., Musée National d’Art Occidental et al. Tokyo, 1982, no. 15 (ill.). Gordon, Robert and Andrew Forge. Monet. New York, 1983, pp. 86 (ill.), 89. A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1984, pp. 224–225, no. 83 (ill.). Kijima, Shunsuke. Monet. Tokyo, 1985, unpaginated, no. 18 (ill.). House, John. Monet: Nature into Art. New Haven, 1986, pp. 18; 35; 80, pl. 118 (ill.); 115; 117. Eitner, Lorenz. An Outline of 19th century European Painting: from David through Cézanne, vol. 1. New York, 1987, p. 355. Eitner, Lorenz. An Outline of 19th century European Painting: from David through Cézanne, vol. 2. New York, 1987, p. 183 (ill.) Herbert, Robert L. Impressionism: Art, Leisure and Parisian Society. New Haven, 1988, p. 260 (ill.) Arcangeli, Francesco. Monet. Bologna, 1989, pp. 47–48, fig. 31 (ill.) Bailey, Colin B. “Camille Monet (1847–1879) in the Garden at Argenteuil.” In The Annenberg Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. eds. Bailey, Colin B., Joseph J. Rishel and Mark Rosenthal. New York, 1989, p. 164 (ill.) Rapetti, Rodolphe. Monet. Milan, 1990, pl. 17 (ill.) Barnes, Rachel, ed. Monet by Monet: Artists by Themselves. London, 1990, p. 15 (ill.) Claude Monet, 1840–1926. Exh. cat., Ville de Liège. Liège, 1992, pp. 60–61, no. 6 (ill.) Hunt, John Dixon. 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Detroit, 2014, p. 130, no. 11.1 (ill.). Shaw, Jill. Monet: Framing Life. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. New Haven, 2017, pp. 1–45; p. 56, no. 8 (ill.). Monet: The Garden Paintings. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Den Haag. October 12, 2019-February 2, 2020, p. 8 (detail ill.), 110-111, (ill.).

Claude Monet, Rounded Flower Bed (Corbeille de fleurs), 1876, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 21.71.