La Maison Bleue de Claude Monet à Giverny (1924)

Butler, Theodore Earl (1861-1936)

La Maison Bleue de Claude Monet à Giverny (Claude Monet’s Blue House in Giverny)
1924
Oil on canvas, 55.9 x 45.7 cm
Private collection

Theodore Earl Butler’s La Maison Bleue de Claude Monet à Giverny captures the secluded nature of life in Giverny and offers a lush depiction of the artist’s mature style. Executed in the summer of 1924, the present painting depicts Maison Bleue, a charming blue country home once owned by Claude Monet and in close proximity to his famous cottage and gardens. The juxtaposition of complementary colors within the framing foliage and the building’s facade imparts a buzzing energy to the painting that expresses the vibrancy of summertime in the French countryside. A subtle, warm glow washes over the scene and suggests the light of dawn or the setting sun. The flecks of paint are applied in a pointillist manner, albeit more liberally organized, that departs from the blended quality of his brushstrokes in earlier paintings of Giverny. These applications of color and form employed in La Maison Bleue de Claude Monet à Giverny demonstrate the effects of Butler’s time spent in the small town and the resulting turn towards an increasingly impressionistic style.

After moving to Paris in 1885, Giverny became one of Butler’s favorite and most frequented places, emerging among his most beloved subjects in the latter decades of his career. Monet’s residency was a large source of the initial attraction that brought Butler to Giverny, among other American Impressionists of the time, such as Theodore Robinson and Lilla Cabot Perry. The undisturbed environment and bursting colors of Giverny would have a profound impact on Butler’s style and color palette. Robinson, who Butler befriended while training in New York, introduced the artist to Monet in 1888. Butler married Suzanne Hoschedé, Monet’s step-daughter, in 1892, allowing the artist access to the elusive master’s exclusive inner circle. As the backdrop for the upbringing of his children and the site of his shift towards a more impressionistic style, Butler expresses his adoration for the French village through his attention to detail in the flourishing foliage, the quiet beauty of the country home, and the brilliant coloring which enlivens the canvas. (Sotheby’s)

See also:

• Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet | Giverny (France)