In the late 1860s, Édouard Manet was Claude Monet's hero. By 1874, they had become friends and Manet came under the sway of Monet's approach to painting quickly, out of doors. This portrait of the Monet family—Camille Monet and Jean, with Claude Monet gardening at the left—is one of Manet's most significant essays in this new style.

In 1924, Monet recounted the circumstances of the day in his garden at Argenteuil: "Manet, enthralled by the color and the light, undertook an outdoor painting of figures under trees. During the sitting, Renoir arrived. . . . He asked me for palette, brush and canvas, and there he was, painting away alongside Manet. The latter was watching him out of the corner of his eye. . . . Then he made a face, passed discreetly near me, and whispered in my ear about Renoir: 'He has no talent, that boy! Since you are his friend, tell him to give up painting!'"

Renoir and Manet both gave their pictures to Monet. Renoir's painting is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Inscription: Signed (lower right): Manet

Claude Monet, Argenteuil (1874–78; returned to Manet); Édouard Manet, Paris (1878; sold for Fr 750 to Toul); [Toul, Paris, from 1878]; Auguste Pellerin, Paris (by 1902–10; sold to Bernheim-Jeune, Durand-Ruel, and Cassirer); [Bernheim-Jeune and Durand-Ruel, Paris, and Paul Cassirer, Berlin, in shares, 1910; sold by Cassirer on July 13 for 80,850 Marks (approx. Fr 100,000) to Arnhold]; Eduard Arnhold, Berlin (1910–d. 1925); his widow, Johanna Arnhold, née Arnthal, Berlin (1925–d. 1929); their daughter, Mrs. Carl Clewing (Elisabeth, called Else; formerly Mrs. Erich Kuhnheim), Berlin (from 1929); her children, Hugo Eduard Kunheim, Arnold Ernst Kunheim, and Erika Kunheim, Berlin; Alberto Ulrich, Zurich (until 1964; sold on February 19, through the Alfred Daber Gallery, Paris, to Knoedler); [Knoedler, New York, 1964; sold on February 26 for $605,000 to Payson]; Mrs. Charles Shipman (Joan Whitney) Payson, New York and Manhasset (1964–d. 1975)

Paris. Exposition Internationale Universelle de 1900. "Exposition Centennale de l'art français (1800–1889)," May–November 1900, no. 451 (as "Portraits en plein-air," lent by M. Pellerin, possibly this picture).

Berlin. Paul Cassirer. "Sammlung Pellerin," 1910, no. ? [see Ref. Rouart and Wildenstein 1975].

Munich. Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser. "Édouard Manet (Aus der Sammlung Pellerin)," 1910, no. 8 [see Ref. Rouart and Wildenstein 1975].

Paris. Bernheim-Jeune. "Trente-cinq tableaux de la collection Pellerin," June 1910, no. 6.

Berlin. Preussische Akademie der Kunste. "Fruhjahrausstellung," 1926, no. ? [see Ref. Rouart and Wildenstein 1975].

Brussels. Palais des Beaux-Arts. "L'Impressionnisme," June 15–September 29, 1935, no. 33 (lent by Maison Arnhold, Berlin).

New York. M. Knoedler & Co.. "Impressionist Treasures from Private Collections in New York," January 12–29, 1966, no. 14 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Payson).

Paris. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. "Manet, 1832–1883," April 22–August 1, 1983, no. 141.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet, 1832–1883," September 10–November 27, 1983, no. 141.

Baltimore Museum of Art. "Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections," October 10, 1999–January 30, 2000, no. 36.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections," March 25–May 7, 2000, no. 36.

Cleveland Museum of Art. "Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections," May 28–July 30, 2000, no. 36.

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. "Édouard Manet und die Impressionisten," September 21, 2002–February 9, 2003, no. 40.

Budapest. Szépmuvészeti Múzeum. "Monet et ses amis," December 1, 2003–March 15, 2004, no. 63.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 61.

Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19.Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.

Émile Zola. Letter to Antoine Guillemet. July 23, 1874 [published in F. W. J. Hemmings and Robert J. Niess, "Émile Zola, Salons," Paris, 1959, p. 25], mentions that Manet is painting a study in Monet's garden in Argenteuil, possibly this picture [also see Ref. Moffett 1983].

Hugo von Tschudi. "Die Jahrhundert-Ausstellung der Französischen Kunst." Die Kunst für Alle 16 (October 15, 1900), pp. 42, 49, ill.

Théodore Duret. Histoire d'Édouard Manet et de son œuvre. Paris, 1902, pp. 100, 236, no. 176, dates it 1874 and places it in the collection of Auguste Pellerin, Paris.

Hugo v. Tschudi. Édouard Manet. Berlin, 1902, p. 24.

George Moore. Reminiscences of the Impressionist Painters. Dublin, 1906 [reprinted in T. A. Gronberg, "Manet, A Retrospective," New York, 1990, pp. 269–70], notes that Monet painted Manet and Mme Manet in the same garden pictured here, and that Monet and Manet exchanged these pictures, but after a quarrel returned them to each other; remarks that he never saw Monet's picture of the Manets.

Étienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manuscrit de l'œuvre d'Édouard Manet, peinture et pastels. [1906], unpaginated, no. 186 [Département des Estampes, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris].

"L'exode en Allemagne des maîtres de l'impressionnisme." L'art et les artistes 11 (April 1910), p. 45, claims that it was sold from the Pellerin collection for Fr 200,000 and lists the price for Desboutin as Fr 250,000.

Emil Waldmann. "Édouard Manet in der Sammlung Pellerin." Kunst und Künstler 8 (May 1910), pp. 392, 395, ill.

G. J. W. "Von Ausstellungen und Sammlungen." Die Kunst für Alle 25 (May 15, 1910), p. 378.

Werner Weisbach. Impressionismus: Ein Problem der Malerei in der Antike und Neuzeit. 2, Berlin, 1911, p. 115, ill. opp. p. 114 (color), as in the Arnhold collection, Berlin.

G. J. Wolf. "Édouard Manet." Die Kunst für Alle 26 (January 1, 1911), p. 145, ill.

Carl Gebhardt. "Die Neuerwerbungen Französicher Malerei im Städelschen Kunstinstitut zu Frankfurt am Main." Der Cicerone 4 (October 15, 1912), p. 765, as in the Arnhold collection.

Jean Laran and Georges Le Bas. Manet. Paris, 1912, p. 71, pl. XXVIII.

Julius Meier-Graefe. Édouard Manet. Munich, 1912, p. 316, pl. 129, states that Arnhold bought it in 1910, along with the "Portrait of Desboutin" (Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo).

Max Deri. Die Malerei im XIX. Jahrhundert. Berlin, 1920, vol. 1, p. 149; vol. 2, pl. 26.

Ambroise Vollard. Auguste Renoir (1841–1919). 5th ed. Paris, 1920, p. 74, repeats a conversation between himself and Renoir, where Renoir describes how he and Manet painted this subject simultaneously; believes that Manet made his remark concerning Renoir's lack of talent to Monet only after Renoir had left [see Notes].

Emil Waldmann. Édouard Manet. Berlin, 1923, pp. 66–67, ill., mistakenly dates it 1875.

Marc Elder. A Giverny, chez Claude Monet. Paris, 1924, pp. 70–71, repeats a conversation with Monet, who describes how Manet and Renoir came to paint this subject side by side in his garden at Argenteuil, and how Manet, after several glances at Renoir's canvas, came over to whisper to Monet that he should advise his friend to give up painitng, as he obviously had no talent; also states that althought Manet gave this picture to him, he later took it back in exchange for Monet's "Woman in the Garden" (Musée d'Orsay, Paris).

Ambroise Vollard. Renoir, An Intimate Record. New York, 1925, p. 70.

Marie Dormoy. "La collection Arnhold." L'Amour de l'art 7 (July 1926), pp. 242, 244, ill., erroneously calls it "La famille Manet".

Étienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manet raconté par lui-même. Paris, 1926, vol. 2, pp. 24–25, 40–41, 116, fig. 190.

Karl Scheffler. "Vergleichende Kunstanschauung in der Frühjahrsausstellung der Akademie der Künste." Kunst und Künstler 24 (1926), p. 344.

A. Tabarant. Manet, histoire catalographique. Paris, 1931, p. 270, no. 222.

Paul Colin. Édouard Manet. Paris, 1932, pl. XLVI, as in the collection of E. Arnhold, Berlin.

René Huyghe. "Manet, peintre." L'Amour de l'art no. 5 (May 1932), p. 184, fig. 79.

Paul Jamot and Georges Wildenstein. Manet. Paris, 1932, vol. 1, pp. 22, 93, 149, no. 245; vol. 2, pl. 357.

"Notes biographiques." L'Amour de l'art 13 (May 1932), p. 147.

Gaston Poulain. Bazille et ses amis. Paris, 1932, p. 103 n. 1, states that Manet took this picture back from Monet in 1876 and sold it a week later [but see Ref. Moffett 1983].

A. Tabarant. "Manet (A propos de son centenaire)." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 61 (1932), p. 23, ill.

Helen Comstock. "The Connoisseur in America: A Child Portrait by Manet." Connoisseur 97 (May 1936), p. 282, erroneously refers to it as "La famille Manet dans le jardin".

Ambroise Vollard. Recollections of a Picture Dealer. London, 1936, p. 169.

Gotthard Jedlicka. Édouard Manet. Zürich, 1941, ill. opp. p. 177.

John Rewald. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1946, pp. 276–77, ill., as whereabouts unknown.

Michel Florisoone. Manet. Monaco, 1947, p. 64, ill., as in the E. Arnhold collection, Berlin.

A. Tabarant. Manet et ses œuvres. 4th ed. (1st. ed. 1942). Paris, 1947, pp. 250, 252, 254, 288, 513, 539, no. 233, fig. 233, discusses in detail Manet's alleged remark to Monet, and finds it unlikely to have actually been said.

George Heard Hamilton. Manet and His Critics. New Haven, 1954, p. 176 n. 3.

Georges Bataille. Manet: Biographical and Critical Study. New York, 1955, p. 12.

Jean Leymarie. Impressionism. Lausanne, 1955, vol. 2, p. 32.

Maurice Sérullaz. Les peintres impressionnistes. Paris, 1959, p. 102, as in a private collection, Berlin.

Theodore Rousseau in "Ninety-fifth Annual Report of the Trustees, for the Fiscal Year 1964–1965." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 24 (October 1965), p. 58, lists it as an anonymous loan to the department during the fiscal year 1964–65.

Franz Winzinger. "Madame Monet als Modell: Ein unbekanntes Bild von Manet." Die Kunst und das schöne Heim 63 (September 1965), p. 513.

Charles Merrill Mount. Monet, a biography. New York, 1966, pp. 252–53.

F. N. "Durchbruch der Impressionisten." Weltkunst 36 (February 15, 1966), p. 129, ill., repeats with some scepitcism Manet's alleged remark to Monet concerning Renoir's talent.

Stuart Preston. "New York Letter: The Harvest of Time." Apollo 83 (March 1966), p. 223, ill., favors this version of the subject over Renoir's, stating that Manet's "portrayal of Madame Monet has the greater psychological expressiveness".

John Rewald. "How New York Became the Capital of 19th-century Paris." Art News 64 (January 1966), pp. 34, 36, ill. (color).

Sandra Orienti in The Complete Paintings of Manet. New York, 1967, p. 104, no. 198, ill.

Paulette Howard-Johnston. "Une visite à Giverny en 1924." L'Oeil no. 171 (March 1969), pp. 30, 32–33, ill., erroneously gives the owner as Eduard Arnhold.

J. Salomon. "Chez Monet avec Vuillard et Roussel." L'Oeil no. 197 (May 1971), p. 24.

Germain Bazin. Édouard Manet. Milan, 1972, p. 79, ill. [French ed., 1974], erroneously gives the title as "La famiglia Manet in giardino".

John Rewald. The History of Impressionism. 4th rev. ed. New York, 1973, pp. 341–43, ill., as whereabouts unknown; suggests that Manet's remark to Monet concerning Renoir's lack of talent, "if it was actually made, can only reflect Manet's irritation at a moment of rivalry before the same subject, for he seems to have been genuinely fond of Renoir and had heretofore frequently expressed his liking for him".

Denis Rouart and Daniel Wildenstein. Édouard Manet, catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1975, vol. 1, pp. 6, 19, 190–91, no. 227, ill.

Anne Distel. Hommage à Claude Monet (1840–1926). Exh. cat., Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, 1980, p. 111.

Pierre Daix. La vie de peintre d'Édouard Manet. Paris, 1983, p. 256, fig. 32.

Charles S. Moffett in Manet, 1832–1883. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 29, 33, 54, 360–63, 373, no. 141, ill. (color, overall and detail) [French ed., Paris, 1983, pp. 29, 32, 54, 359–63, 373, no. 141, ill. (color, overall and detail)], remarks that Manet provided the hat worn by Mme Monet as a prop, because it belonged to his wife and it appears in several of his works including "Boating" (MMA 29.100.115); comments on the technique.

Anne Distel in Renoir. Exh. cat., Hayward Gallery. [London], 1985, pp. 205–6, under no. 30, fig. a [French ed., p. 126, under no. 29, fig. 31], compares it to Renoir's version of the same subject painted at the same time.

Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 46–47, ill. (color, overall and detail).

Kathleen Adler. Manet. Oxford, 1986, pp. 168–69, fig. 158 (color).

Nicolaas Teeuwisse. Vom Salon zur Secession: Berliner Kunstleben zwischen Tradition und Aufbruch zur Moderne, 1871–1900. Berlin, 1986, pp. 223, 306 n. 527.

Barbara Paul. "Drei Sammlungen französischer impressionister Kunst im kaiserlichen Berlin - Bernstein, Liebermann, Arnhold." Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft 42 (1988), pp. 21, 23, 29, n. 88, fig. 8 (installation photograph), publishes a photograph of this work hanging in Eduard Arnhold's house in 1920.

Josef Kern Universität Würzburg. Impressionismus im Wilhelminischen Deutschland: Studien zur Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte des Kaiserreichs. Würzburg, 1989, pp. 155, 472–73.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau. "L'année impressionniste de Manet: Argenteuil et Venise en 1874." Revue de l'art 86 (1989), p. 34 n. 24.

Éric Darragon. Manet. Paris, 1991, pp. 246, 286, colorpl. 169.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau. Manet by Himself, Correspondance & Conversation: Paintings, Pastels, Prints & Drawings. Boston, 1991, p. 311, no. 160, colorpl. 160.

Sarah Carr-Gomm. Manet. London, 1992, pp. 112–13, ill. (color), calls it one of Manet's "least confrontational figure groups".

Margaret Fitzgerald Farr. "Impressionist Portraiture: A Study in Context and Meaning." PhD diss., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1992, pp. 45–46, pl. 7.

Vivien Perutz. Édouard Manet. Lewisburg, Pa., 1993, p. 162, fig. 177, remarks that in style it is very close to "Swallows" (RW190; Foundation Collection, E. G. Bührle, Zürich), but that in color and shape the figures are more integrated with the landscape.

Kermit Swiler Champa. 'Masterpiece' Studies: Manet, Zola, Van Gogh, and Monet. University Park, Pa., 1994, p. 142, ill. between pp. 17 and 19.

Albert Kostenevich. Hidden Treasures Revealed: Impressionist Masterpieces and Other Important French Paintings Preserved by the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Exh. cat.New York, 1995, p. 144.

Charles F. Stuckey. Claude Monet, 1840–1926. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1995, p. 199.

Götz Adriani. Renoir. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Tübingen. Cologne, 1996, pp. 123–24, ill. (color).

Hans Körner. Edouard Manet: Dandy, Flaneur, Maler. Munich, 1996, p. 147, fig. 118.

Alan Krell. Manet and the Painters of Contemporary Life. London, 1996, pp. 129, 131, fig. 120.

Barbara Ehrlich White. Impressionists Side by Side: Their Friendships, Rivalries, and Artistic Exchanges. New York, 1996, p. 72, ill. (color).

Colin B. Bailey in Colin B. Bailey. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. New Haven, 1997, pp. 57, 130–31, fig. 144, notes that the rooster, hen, and chick wittily underscore the Monet family's relationship and identifies the site as the garden of their rented house, Maison Aubry, at 2, rue Pierre Guienne, Argenteuil.

Important Paintings and Sculpture formerly in the Auguste Pellerin Collection. Christie's, New York. November 8, 1999, p. 7.

John House in Sona Johnston. Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. New York, 1999, pp. 19, 25.

Sona Johnston and Susan Bollendorf in Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. New York, 1999, pp. 110–11, no. 36, ill. (color).

Richard R. Brettell. Impression: Painting Quickly in France, 1860–1890. Exh. cat., National Gallery, London. New Haven, 2000, pp. 87–88, 162, fig. 46 (color), remarks that there is visible evidence that Manet scraped off at least one layer of paint to begin the painting again.

Carol Armstrong. Manet Manette. New Haven, 2002, p. 213, fig. 102.

Michael Dorrmann Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Eduard Arnhold (1849–1925): Eine biographische Studie zu Unternehmer- und Mäzenatentum im Deutschen Kaiserreich. Berlin, 2002, pp. 128, 130, 136, 140, 347, no. A36, pl. 19 (installation photo), notes that Cassirer sold it to Arnhold on July 13, 1910 for 80,850 Marks (about Fr 100,000).

Richard Shone. The Janice H. Levin Collection of French Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2002, fig. 9.

Judit Geskó in Monet et ses amis. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. Budapest, 2003, pp. 250–52, no. 63, ill. (color), compares it to Renoir's painting of the same subject in Washington.

Manuela B. Mena Marqués in Manet en el Prado. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 121, 296, 420, 478, fig. 140 (color), suggests that this composition was heavily influenced by Manet's early interest in Titian's painting of the Virgin and Saint Catherine (Musée du Louvre, Paris).

Clare A. P. Willsdon. In the Gardens of Impressionism. New York, 2004, pp. 141–42, 144–45, 158, 179, 184, 197, 265 n. 46, p. 282, colorpl. 149, discusses the Royalist attempt to dissolve the French republic in the summer of 1874 and finds political associations in the red, white, and blue of the fan, dress, and sailor suit in this picture; connects the placement of Monet's wife and son on the ground like "roots of a tree" with the Republican writer, Jules Michelet's imagery of trees and the trees of liberty planted during the 1789 and 1848 French revolutions, arguing that this "tightly integrated imagery of family, motherhood, childhood and husbandry, would thus have constituted an unmistakable assertion of modern Republican ideals".

John House in The Painter's Garden: Design, Inspiration, Delight. Exh. cat., Städel Museum. Frankfurt, 2006, pp. 191, 198 n. 3, fig. 3 (color).

Ross King. The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism. New York, 2006, pp. 360–61, ill.

Joseph Baillio and Cora Michael in Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff. Exh. cat., Wildenstein & Co., Inc. New York, 2007, p. 192, fig. 7.

Robert McDonald Parker in Renoir Landscapes: 1865–1883. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 2007, p. 274.

Gary Tinterow in The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 89, 232, no. 61, ill. (color and black and white).

Gary Tinterow in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 103, 273–74, no. 94, ill. (color and black and white).

John Zarobell in Renoir Landscapes: 1865–1883. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 2007, p. 152, fig. 84 (color).

Manet painted this picture of Claude Monet, his wife Camille, and their son Jean in the summer of 1874 at Monet's house in Argenteuil. Renoir painted the same subject simultaneously; his version is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. There is an often-repeated story that as the two painters worked alongside each other, Manet turned to Monet and advised him to tell his friend Renoir to give up painting, as he obviously had no talent [see Refs. Vollard 1920, Elder 1924, Tabarant 1947, Rewald 1973, etc.].