Paris: Galeries Durand-Ruel, 1904 (05), 17×10,1 cm. Softcover. Thread-bound. 11 pp. French. Exhibition catalogue / brochure for the groundbreaking exhibition of Monet at Durand-Ruel in the spring 1904. Text by Octave Mirbeau. Full list of 37 works with title and year, split in three sections Charing Cross Bridge | Waterloo Bridge | Le Parlement.
Only 4 copies located worldwide including The Frick Collection (New York) and The National Gallery of Art Library (Washington).
The complexity of capturing the changing effects of light and atmosphere is revealed by the increasing number of canvases Monet chose to paint. Arriving for one visit on February 11, 1900, by March 1 he had begun forty-four pictures, a number that had increased to fifty by March 4, and to sixty-five by March 18; by the end of the month, he returned to France with eighty canvases. After five years of work, Monet exhibited thirty-seven canvases to great acclaim at the Paris gallery of the noted art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel in May 1904. In one of the exhibition’s many favorable reviews, the critic Charles Morice dubbed Monet “master and king of the ephemeral,” the true hero of his painted “drama” being the fog on the Thames. [Brooklyn museum]
condition: Light staining on cover, also light ‘waviness’ of the lowest part of the covers, common mishap for this type of handmade paper. Faint crease marks on back cover corners. Inside clean and strong. In VG / VG+ condition, an excellent overall copy regarding it’s age, importance and scarcity.
