Description: In 1870, before the onset of the Franco-Prussian War, Claude Monet and his new bride Camille Doncieux visited Trouville on the Normandy coast. Village Street was most likely painted on that trip, and it reveals Monet’s tendency to omit unessential detail in favor of a broad, generalizing impression. Painting clouds, trees, buildings, and a glimpse of the English Channel with just a few quick dashes of his brushes, Monet captured the effects of the late afternoon sun casting deep shadows across a broad avenue. Monet may have painted this canvas in one sitting, which demanded great powers of observation and sure brushwork. Those qualities gave expression to an arrested moment, and lent Village Street its sense of authentic experience.
Provenance: Museum purchase from Cornelia Ritchie and Ritchie Trust No. 4 provided through a gift from the Moss Family Fund