MONET (Claude). Autograph letter [to his wife Alice Raingo]. - Lot 49

Lot n° 49
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Result : 3 640EUR
MONET (Claude). Autograph letter [to his wife Alice Raingo]. - Lot 49
MONET (Claude). Autograph letter [to his wife Alice Raingo]. London, March 31, 1900. 2 pp. in-8 and 1 p. in-4 on a bifeuillet in-8, printed letterhead of "Savoy Hotel" in London; 3 marginal crosses in red pen; letter incomplete from end. A BEAUTIFUL LETTER EVOKING HIS WORK ON THE PARLIAMENT OF LONDON. Claude Monet came to London for the first time during the winter of 1870-1871, and, cultivating the friendship of painters James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent, returned on several occasions, notably during a stay from February to April 1900. Fascinated by the light and colors of the London fog, he painted the effects of it in numerous pictures, notably in the spring of 1900 in a series devoted to the Parliament of Westminster. "10 a.m. MY DEAR, A LITTLE QUIET THIS MORNING, AND WITH THAT A SPLENDID WEATHER. I HAVE BEEN WORKING A LITTLE and am taking advantage of a moment when I can do nothing to begin your letter. You can rest easy for the crossing, they must have very good weather and the barometer is rising [Alice was worried about the children of her daughter Suzanne, who died in 1899, who were going to the United States with their father, the impressionist painter Theodore Earl Butler, and with Marthe Hoschedé, Suzanne's sister]. With these ups and downs I cannot tell you anything yet about my departure. So write to me until you have a dispatch and keep me well informed of what you will be doing and at which hotel you will be staying in Le Havre. I advise you to go to the Continental or Frascati, both being at the jetty and as soon as the boat is in sight, to have a car ready to go to the boat, and not to fail to send them a telegram on board informing them that you are there, because sometimes if it arrives in the night or before the tide, the passengers are disembarked on a tugboat. If I were to leave on Wednesday, I would meet you in the evening in Le Havre. If it's only Thursday, I would have to send a telegram from Le Havre to the Rouen station - specifying on the address that I'm coming from London - telling me whether the boat has arrived, whether I should come without fear of running into you, or whether I should wait for you in Rouen, or whether you've come to Giverny. That's the way it is, isn't it. I think I could not fix you on my departure until Monday or Tuesday, because I am told that the railroad will not accept the registration of my 8 cases. I spoke to SARGENT yesterday and he is sure of it but will take steps to get it. I SPENT A GOOD EVENING WITH HIM, HE WAS MORE FRIENDLY THAN EVER AND, SEEING ME DEMORALIZED, DID EVERYTHING TO CHEER ME UP. But I stop, this is the effect, back to work soon, see you tonight. 3 hrs. IT'S GOING VERY SLOWLY, WONDERFUL WEATHER, HOW NICE, AND WHAT A CURSE TO BE SO SENSITIVE, SO LITTLE MASTER OF ONESELF. I think of you all the time, and I say to myself that perhaps it would be best if I left on Wednesday evening if I continue to work reasonably until then... ". He then mentions the diplomat Paul d'Estournelles de Constant, a collector and one of his admirers who was to come and visit him.
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