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Claude Monet - The Church of Varengeville, Setting Sun (L'Église de Varengeville, soleil couchant) [1882]

This was painted at a turning point in Monet's life and career. He had returned to his native Normandy at the beginning of 1882 in order to paint there, having left his children with Alice Hoschedé in Poissy. They had recently moved there, having left Vétheuil, but were suffering from the friction of their unusual domestic situation. In Vétheuil, Alice had been a part of the household, helping Monet with the children following the death of his wife Camille in September 1879. For her to move with him to Poissy, while still ostensibly married to Ernest Hoschedé, tore some of the veil of altruism from some people's eyes, and she found it hard, living with six children on a shoestring while Monet was elsewhere.

 

[Christie’s, London - Oil on canvas, 64.8 x 81 cm]

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Uploaded on April 9, 2018