Monet visited Venice for the first time in autumn 1908. Captivated by the "unique light," he embarked on a painting campaign featuring four different areas of the cityscape. He began each day with views such as this one, showing the airy façade of the Palazzo Ducale (or the Doge’s Palace) from across the water on the islet of San Giorgio Maggiore. Monet departed Venice reluctantly, writing "It's so beautiful . . . . I console myself with the thought of returning next year, for I was only able to make attempts, beginnings." Although he never returned, Monet continued working on his canvases. The present picture and twenty-eight others were exhibited to acclaim in Paris in the spring of 1912.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Palazzo Ducale Seen from San Giorgio Maggiore
Artist:Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)
Date:1908
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:25 3/4 x 36 1/2 in. (65.4 x 92.7 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, 1959
Object Number:59.188.1
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): Claude Monet 1908
[Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, and Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1912–31; bought from the artist on May 15, 1912 for Fr 12,000; sold 1931 to McVeigh]; Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, New York (1931–59; life interest 1959–63, relinquished and accepted by the Board of Trustees on September 10, 1963)
Paris. Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. "Claude Monet: "Venise"," May 28–June 8, 1912, no. 17 or 18.
Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. January 1916, no catalogue? [see Wildenstein 1985].
Cleveland. location unknown. February 1916, no catalogue? [see Wildenstein 1985].
New York. Durand-Ruel. "Monet," December 1916, no. 9 [see Wildenstein 1985].
Chicago. O'Brien Gallery. "Tableaux Durand-Ruel," April 1917, no catalogue? [see Wildenstein 1985].
Worcester Art Museum. "Paintings by Modern French Masters," December 1917, no. 7 [see Wildenstein 1985].
Paris. Durand-Ruel. "Paintings by Claude Monet," 1923, no. 18 (possibly this picture) [see Sterling and Salinger 1967].
Paris. Musée de l'Orangerie. "Claude Monet: Exposition rétrospective," 1931, no. 117 (as "Le Palais Ducal vu de San-Giorgio," lent by collection Durand-Ruel).
Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. "Landscape Painting in the East and West," April 19–June 1, 1986, no. 13 (as "Venice: The Wogés Palace Seen from San Giorgio Maggiore").
Kobe City Museum. "Landscape Painting in the East and West," June 7–July 13, 1986, no. 13.
Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 94.
Fort Lauderdale. Museum of Art. "Corot to Cézanne: 19th Century French Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," December 22, 1992–April 11, 1993, no catalogue.
Fort Worth. Kimbell Art Museum. "Monet and the Mediterranean," June 8–September 7, 1997, unnumbered cat.
Brooklyn Museum of Art. "Monet and the Mediterranean," October 10, 1997–January 4, 1998, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Monet in the 20th Century," September 20–December 27, 1998, no. 55.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Monet in the 20th Century," January 23–April 18, 1999, no. 55.
National Art Center, Tokyo. "L'Art de Monet et sa posterité," April 7–July 2, 2007, no. 53.
Basel. Fondation Beyeler. "Venice: From Canaletto and Turner to Monet," September 28, 2008–January 25, 2009, unnumbered cat. (p. 211, as "The Palazzo Ducale seen from San Giorgio Maggiore").
Arsène Alexandre. "La Vie artistique: Claude Monet et Venise." Le Figaro (May 29, 1912), p. 4.
Gustave Geffroy. "Notre Époque: La Venise de Claude Monet." La dépêche 43 (May 30, 1912), p. 1.
Henri Genet. "Beaux-Arts et curiosité: les "Venise" de Cl. Monet." L'Opinion (June 1, 1912), p. 698 [see Ref. Wildenstein 1996].
Georges Lecomte. "La vie artistique: Un radieux poème à la gloire de Venise, C'est l'illustre peintre Claude Monet qui nous en donne la joie." Le matin 29 (June 3, 1912), p. 6.
"Art et curiosité: Une féerie de lumière et de couleur. Venise vue par Claude Monet." Le temps (June 11, 1912), p. 4.
"Vision d'art: Venise par Claude Monet." Le Gaulois (June 14, 1912), p. 1.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, p. 143, ill.
Douglas Cooper. "The Monets in the Metropolitan Museum." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), pp. 300–1, 305, fig. 30.
Joel Isaacson. Observation and Reflection: Claude Monet. Oxford, 1978, pp. 45, 181, 230, pl. 136, dates it 1908–12.
Sylvie Gache inHommage à Claude Monet (1840–1926). Exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, 1980, p. 320.
Grace Seiberling. Monet's Series. PhD diss., Yale University. New York, 1981, pp. 210, 379, no. 11.
Daniel Wildenstein. Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné. Vol. 4, 1899–1926: Peintures. Lausanne, 1985, pp. 58, 75 n. 686, pp. 238, 240–41, no. 1755, ill.
Charles F. Stuckey, ed. Monet: A Retrospective. New York, 1985, p. 282, colorpl. 106.
Philippe Piguet. Monet et Venise. Paris, 1986, p. 79, fig. 11 (color), claims that it was number 18 in the 1912 Bernheim-Jeune exhibition of Monet's Venetian scenes.
Gary Tinterow inTreasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Exh. cat., Yokohama Museum of Art. [Tokyo?], 1989, p. 149, no. 94, ill. (color).
Richard Kendall, ed. Monet by Himself. London, 1989, ill. p. 239 (color).
Roger Hurlburt. "Free Spirits." Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) (December 20, 1992), p. 4D.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 478, ill.
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet. Vol. 4, Catalogue raisonné–Werkverzeichnis: Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations. 2nd ed. Cologne, 1996, pp. 821–22, no. 1755, ill. (color).
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet or the Triumph of Impressionism. Vol. 1, 2nd ed. Cologne, 1996, p. 385.
Joachim Pissarro. Monet and the Mediterranean. Exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. New York, 1997, pp. 50, 152, colorpl. 83.
Paul Hayes Tucker inMonet in the 20th Century. Ed. Paul Hayes Tucker and Mary Anne Stevens. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 1998, p. 283, no. 55, ill. p. 51 (color detail) and colorpl. 55,
.
David Gervais. "Exhibition Reviews: London, Monet." Burlington Magazine 141 (April 1999), p. 240.
Michael Diener. Das Ambivalente in der Kunst Leonardos, Monets und Mondrians. PhD diss., Universität Saarbrücken. St. Ingbert, 2002, pp. 180–81 n. 484, pp. 192–93, 200 n. 531, pp. 210–11, p. 220 n. 591, pp. 224, 227–28 n. 609.
Eric M. Zafran inClaude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff. Exh. cat., Wildenstein & Co., Inc. New York, 2007, p. 133.
Tomoko Matsuoka inL'Art de Monet et sa postérité. Exh. cat., National Art Center, Tokyo. Tokyo, 2007, pp. 110, 114, 264, no. 53, ill. p. 112 (color).
Gottfried Boehm inVenice: From Canaletto and Turner to Monet. Ed. Martin Schwander. Exh. cat., Fondation Beyeler. Basel, 2008, pp. 196, 217, ill. p. 211 (color).
Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark inMonet: Beyond Impressionism. Exh. cat., Ordrupgaard. Copenhagen, 2016, pp. 196, 214, ill. (color).
Paul Hayes Tucker inMonet: Beyond Impressionism. Exh. cat., Ordrupgaard. Copenhagen, 2016, pp. 165–66, fig. 112 (color).
Julia Knöschke inImpressionism: The Art of Landscape. Ed. Ortrud Westheider and Michael Philipp. Exh. cat., Museum Barberini, Potsdam. Munich, 2017, p. 225.
This is one of five versions (W1751–1755) of this subject painted by Monet, all dated 1908. A sixth canvas (W1756), also dated 1908, depicts the same scene from a slightly different viewpoint.
Collections Management Associate Bianca Ruthven highlights some of the recent discoveries being made about the European Paintings collection as artworks are being moved in preparation for the Skylights Project.
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