When this early seascape debuted at the 1879 Impressionist exhibition, a critic remarked that it was "directly influenced by Manet." The handling of paint and the composition, especially the high horizon line, echo Manet's depictions of American warships, The "Kearsarge" at Boulogne (1999.442) and The Battle of the "Kearsarge" and the "Alabama" (Philadelphia Museum of Art), which Monet may have seen on exhibition in Paris in 1865 and 1867. He later—and incorrectly—dated the present work to 1865. In fact, he visited the Normandy coast in 1866 and 1867.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Green Wave
Artist:Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)
Date:ca. 1866–67
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:19 1/8 x 25 1/2 in. (48.6 x 64.8 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number:29.100.111
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): Cl. Monet 65
?Théodore Duret, Paris (in 1879); M. Oudard (until 1882; sold on July 19, 1882, for Fr 150 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1882–83; stock no. 2512, as "Marine"; sold on October 8, 1883, for Fr 800 to Mary Cassatt, for her brother]; J. Gardner Cassatt, Philadelphia (1883–98; deposited with Durand-Ruel on February 2, 1898; deposit no. 5658, as "Marine"; stock no. 2012, as "Marine"; sold on July 1, 1898, for $1,000 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1898; sold on July 1, 1898, for $1,000 to Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1898–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929; cat., 1931, p. 151, ill.)
Paris. 28, avenue de l'Opéra. "4me exposition de peinture [4th Impressionist exhibition]," April 10–May 11, 1879, no. 140 (as "Marine [1875]" lent by M. Duret).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 81 [2nd ed., 1958, no. 171].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscape Paintings," May 14–September 30, 1934, no. 49.
Manchester, N.H. Currier Gallery of Art. "Monet and the Beginnings of Impressionism," October 8–November 6, 1949, no. 32.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Impressionist Epoch," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, not in catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993, no. A387.
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869," April 19–August 8, 1994, no. 127.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Origins of Impressionism," September 27, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 127.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "La collection Havemeyer: Quand l'Amérique découvrait l'impressionnisme...," October 20, 1997–January 18, 1998, no. 25.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet and the American Civil War: The Battle of U.S.S. 'Kearsage' and C.S.S. 'Alabama'," June 3–August 17, 2003, unnumbered cat. (fig. 64).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Manet and the Sea," October 20, 2003–January 19, 2004, no. 94.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Manet and the Sea," February 15–May 30, 2004, no. 94.
Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum. "Manet and the Sea," June 18–September 26, 2004, no. 94.
Fort Worth. Kimbell Art Museum. "Monet: The Early Years," October 16, 2016–January 29, 2017, no. 15.
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Monet: The Early Years," February 25–May 29, 2017, no. 15.
Armand Silvestre. "Le Monde des Arts." La Vie Moderne 1 (April 24, 1879), p. 38, as "Barque de pècheurs sur une grosse mer"; states that this painting descends directly from Manet's work.
J[ean]. de Tarade. "L'Exposition des peintres indépendants." L'Europe artiste (April 27, 1879), p. 1, as "Barques de pêcheurs"; erroneously refers it as no. 141 in Exh. Paris 1879.
Armand Silvestre. "Les Expositions: Des Indépendants." L'Estafette (April 16, 1879), p. 3, as "Barques de pêcheurs"; refers to it as no. 141, when this work was actually exhibited as no. 140.
"Havemeyer Collection at Metropolitan Museum: Havemeyers Paid Small Sums for Masterpieces." Art News 28 (March 15, 1930), p. 35, ill. p. 47, refers to it on p. 35 as "Boat", and with the correct title on p. 47.
Frank Jewett Mather Jr. "The Havemeyer Pictures." The Arts 16 (March 1930), p. 479, ill. p. 459.
Harry B. Wehle. "The Exhibition of the H. O. Havemeyer Collection." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 25 (March 1930), p. 56.
H. O. Havemeyer Collection: Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art. n.p., 1931, p. 151, ill.
Stephen Gwynn. Claude Monet and His Garden: The Story of an Artist's Paradise. New York, 1934, p. 168.
Oscar Reuterswärd. Monet. Stockholm, 1948, p. 289.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures, French Impressionists: Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Boudin. Vol. 27, Album 51, New York, 1951, unpaginated, ill. (color), remarks that the style was likely influenced by Courbet.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 68.
Charles Merrill Mount. "A Monet Portrait of Jongkind." Art Quarterly 21 (1958), pp. 385, 390 n. 8.
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. 124, ill., state that "this picture was probably painted in the fall of 1865 when Monet was working at Trouville with Boudin, Daubigny, and Courbet," noting that "the influence of Manet is dominant".
Joel Isaacson. "The Early Paintings of Claude Monet." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1967, pp. 81–82, 169, 296–97 n. 47, p. 301 n. 25, p. 323 n. 4.
Douglas Cooper. "The Monets in the Metropolitan Museum." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), pp. 282–83, 304–5, fig. 2.
Daniel Wildenstein. Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné. Vol. 1, 1840–1881: Peintures. Lausanne, 1974, pp. 35, 152–53, no. 73, ill., places it with works painted in 1866, and adds to the early provenance.
Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov. Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 1981, p. 242, under no. 77, fig. 87, suggests that it may have been an inspiration for Anquetin's pastel of about 1887–88, "Boat at Night" (private collection, Paris).
Grace Seiberling. Monet's Series. PhD diss., Yale University. New York, 1981, p. 305 n. 31.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 104–5, 251, ill. (color).
Frances Weitzenhoffer. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, pp. 135, 257, colorpl. 97.
Ronald Pickvance inThe New Painting: Impressionism 1874–1886. Ed. Charles S. Moffett. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington. San Francisco, 1986, pp. 259, 265 nn. 94, 95, pp. 268–69, no. 140, fig. 13, states that this work must have been included in the 4th Impressionist exhibition in 1879, as no. 140, "Marine," and erroneously dated 1875; agrees with Wildenstein [see Ref. 1974] that Monet must have painted it in 1866 while visiting the Channel Coast, and later added the date of 1865.
Ann Dumas in Sarah Faunce and Linda Nochlin. Courbet Reconsidered. Exh. cat., Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, 1988, p. 190, ill., suggests that this work may have influenced Courbet's slightly later group of wave paintings, especially "The Wave" (Gallery Art Point, Tokyo).
Richard Kendall, ed. Monet by Himself. London, 1989, ill. p. 40 (color).
Sylvie Patin. Monet: 'Un Œil... Mais, Bon Dieu, Quel Œil!'. [Paris], 1991, pp. 24–25, ill. (color).
Susan Alyson Stein inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pp. 223–24, colorpl. 210, fig. 106 (installation view from New York 1930).
Gary Tinterow inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 33.
Gretchen Wold inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pp. 361–62, no. A387, ill.
Gary Tinterow in Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette. Origins of Impressionism. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1994, pp. 240, 296, 426–28, no. 127, ill. p. 426 and fig. 303 (color) [French ed., "Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869," Paris], dates it 1866–67, citing Monet's frequent retrospective misdating and noting the influence of Japanese prints and Manet, whose marines Monet did not see until 1867; states that this is one of only three paintings Monet executed with a palette knife, the others being "Seascape: Storm" (Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, Williamstown) and "Seascape, Shipping by Moonlight" (National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh).
John Russell Taylor. Claude Monet: Impressions of France from Le Havre to Giverny. London, 1995, ill. p. 15 (color).
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 471, ill.
Stephan Koja. Claude Monet. Exh. cat., Osterreichische Galerie, Vienna. Munich, 1996, pp. 43, 215, no. 8, colorpl. 8, remarks that Monet painted this and other seascapes at Ferme Saint-Siméon, where he stayed from the late summer of 1866 until the following February; suggests, based on a contemporary description by Silvestre, that this may have been the sea-piece Monet exhibited at the Impressionist exhibition of 1879; discusses the influence of Manet's seascapes, Courbet's palette knife technique, and Japanese woodcuts, noting that this work is particularly reminiscent of Hokusai's "Boats on the Wave".
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet. Vol. 2, Catalogue raisonné–Werkverzeichnis: Nos. 1–968. 2nd ed. Cologne, 1996, pp. 40–41, no. 73, ill. (color).
Ruth Berson, ed. "Documentation: Volume I, Reviews and Volume II, Exhibited Works." The New Painting: Impressionism 1874–1886. San Francisco, 1996, vol. 2, pp. 114, 133, ill.
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet or the Triumph of Impressionism. Vol. 1, 2nd ed. Cologne, 1996, p. 62.
Gary Tinterow inLa collection Havemeyer: Quand l'Amérique découvrait l'impressionnisme. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 1997, pp. 57, 59, 62–63, 105, no. 25, ill. (color).
Susanne Weiss. Claude Monet: Ein distanzierter Blick auf Stadt und Land Werke, 1859–1889. Berlin, 1997, unpaginated, fig. 54.
Susan Alyson Stein inLa collection Havemeyer: Quand l'Amérique découvrait l'impressionnisme. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 1997, p. 18.
Caroline Durand-Ruel. "Quand les Havemeyers aimaient la peinture française." Connaissance des arts no. 544 (November 1997), p. 108, colorpl. 9.
Guido Guiffrè inLa nascita dell'impressionismo. Ed. Marco Goldin. Exh. cat., Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso. Conegliano, Italy, 2000, pp. 274–75, ill.
Richard R. Brettell. Impression: Painting Quickly in France, 1860–1890. Exh. cat., National Gallery, London. New Haven, 2000, pp. 109–10, fig. 64.
Ina Conzen. "'Eine neue Welt': Edouard Manet und die Impressionisten." Edouard Manet und die Impressionisten. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany, 2002, pp. 40, 42, fig. 35, dates it 1867, while acknowledging the date on the painting as 1865.
John Leighton in Juliet Wilson-Bareau David Degener. Manet and the Sea. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Philadelphia, 2003, pp. 203, 212, ill. p. 200 (color detail) and colorpl. 94, dates it 1866–67 and suggests it may have been painted at Ville d'Avray in 1866; notes the influence of Japanese prints, Courbet, and especially Manet.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau with David C. Degener. Manet and the American Civil War: The Battle of the U.S.S. "Kearsage" and C.S.S. "Alabama". Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, pp. 79, 83, fig. 64 (color), date it about 1866–67, possibly after Monet saw Manet's "'Kearsarge' at Boulogne" (MMA 1999.442).
Dominique Lobstein. Monet et Londres. 2004, p. 8, ill. (color).
Eric M. Zafran inClaude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff. Exh. cat., Wildenstein & Co., Inc. New York, 2007, pp. 81, 84, 145 n. 8, fig. 4, notes that in 1883, either Cassatt or her parents exchanged "The Beach at Trouville" (DW 157) for this picture.
Laurence des Cars inGustave Courbet. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2008, p. 67, fig. 9 (color) [French ed., Paris, 2007].
Carole McNamara. The Lens of Impressionism: Photography and Painting along the Normandy Coast, 1850–1874. Exh. cat., University of Michigan Museum of Art. Ann Arbor, 2009, p. 28, fig. 12 (color), compares the assymetrical composition to Eugène Colliau's photograph, "Sailboats on the Coast" (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris) of about 1861.
Dominique de Font-Réaulx in Carole McNamara. The Lens of Impressionism: Photography and Painting along the Normandy Coast, 1850–1874. Exh. cat., University of Michigan Museum of Art. Ann Arbor, 2009, p. 168, compares it to Victor Hugo's drawing "My Destiny" (Maison de Victor Hugo, Paris) of 1857.
Anne Roquebert inClaude Monet: 1840–1926. Exh. cat., Galeries nationales, Grand Palais. Paris, 2010, p. 100, fig. 4 (color), dates it 1866.
Richard Kendall inNineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Ed. Sarah Lees. Williamstown, Mass., 2012, vol. 2, pp. 517–19 nn. 7, 13, under no. 222, suggests that it was painted between the fall of 1866 and the spring of 1867; compares it to Monet's "Seascape, Storm" (1866, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown).
Anthea Callen. The Work of Art: Plein-Air Painting and Artistic Identity in Nineteenth-Century France. London, 2015, pp. 114, 216, 285 n. 5, fig. 85 (color), discusses Monet's use of the palette knife in this picture.
George T. M. Shackelford inMonet: The Early Years. Exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum. Fort Worth, 2016, pp. 16, 113, 117, 190 n. 11, p. 203, no. 15, ill. p. 112 (color), notes that while the painting appeared as dated 1875 in the 4th Impressionist exhibition of 1879, this may have been an error, with the intended date 1865, calling that "a more plausible date even to an 1879 viewer"; compares its extreme simplicity of design to that of the artist's "Seascape" (Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen) and "Seascape, Storm" (ca. 1866–67, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown); identifies the large boat at the top of the wave as a lugger with two fishermen aboard.
Anthea Callen inMonet: The Early Years. Exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum. Fort Worth, 2016, pp. 52, 54, 194–95 n. 19, notes that both the artist's and the viewer's position in relation to the seascape scene is floating and that Monet used a vertical landscape size 15 format canvas horizontally for both this picture and "Seascape, Storm" (ca. 1866–67, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown).
Richard Thomson inMonet: The Early Years. Exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum. Fort Worth, 2016, p. 38.
Richard Shiff inMonet: The Early Years. Exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum. Fort Worth, 2016, p. 62, ill. pp. 58–59 (color detail).
Richard R. Brettell. "Early Monet: Fort Worth and San Francisco." Burlington Magazine 159 (January 2017), p. 77, discusses it in relation to Monet's experimental techniques and varieties of paint application.
Marianne Mathieu inMonet: The Late Years. Exh. cat., Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Fort Worth, 2019, pp. 82, 205 n. 32.
Laura D. Corey and Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen. "Visions of Collecting." Making The Met, 1870–2020. Ed. Andrea Bayer with Laura D. Corey. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2020, pp. 139, 265 n. 51.
Catherine Méneux in "Relative Independence: The Determining Role of Collectors at the Fourth 'Impressionist' Exhibition in 1879." Collecting Impressionism: A Reappraisal of the Role of Collectors in the History of the Movement. Ed. Ségolène Le Men and Félicie Faizand de Maupeou. Milan, 2022, p. 150 n. 25.
The date inscribed on the painting appears to be incorrect. Monet often returned to finished paintings and dated them well after their completion. This work was painted in 1866–67 during Monet's visit to the coast of Normandy. A pair of Manet paintings—The "Kearsarge" at Boulogne (The Met 1999.442) and The Battle of the "Kearsarge" and the "Alabama" (Philadelphia Museum of Art), exhibited in 1865 and 1867—show that they had a clear influence over Monet in painting this picture.
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