Le Capeline Rouge

7. Claude Oscar Monet, French, 1840-1926. Le Capeline Rouge--Madame Monet (The Red Hood--Madame Monet), c. 1870. Oil on canvas, 110.4 x 80 cm. Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., 1958.39

In this work, Claude Monet depicts his first wife, Camille, walking in a wintry landscape viewed through a pair of French doors. The artist used the windows to frame the scene, capturing the fleeting moment when the figure passes and turns to meet the artist's gaze. The contrast of her vibrant red hood with the muted gray tones of the interior compels the viewer's attention. Typical of Monet's painting style, the clearly visible short strokes of white paint suggest fallen snow on the trees outside, while the simplified forms that define Camille's bulky winter clothing give the painting a spontaneous appearance.

Born in Paris in 1840, Monet grew up in the Norman port city of Le Havre. There he developed a love of the sea and water, a theme that runs throughout his work. From an early age, Monet exhibited great artistic skill and talent. He went on painting expeditions along the Norman coast with the older artist Eugène Boudin (1824-1898), who introduced Monet to the advantages of painting outdoors. After moving to Paris in 1859, Monet studied at the studio of Charles Gleyre (1808-1874), where Auguste Renoir was a fellow pupil. Monet took the sketchy quality associated with impressionism--the notion of capturing a fleeting moment with freely painted brushwork--further than the other original impressionists. He was one of the founding members of the group and the only one never to waver from the ideal of capturing light and color objectively on the canvas.

Vivian Kung and Patricia Richmond
Teacher Resource Center
Department of Education and Public Programs

© 1997 The Cleveland Museum of Art