488

Claude Monet

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,500.00 - 4,500.00 USD
Claude Monet

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Auction Date:2017 Nov 08 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS in pencil, in French, two pages on two adjoining sheets, 5.25 x 8, Giverny par Vernon letterhead, July 2, 1918. Beautiful letter evoking Clemenceau and the French soldiers on the battlefields of the First World War. In full (translated): "I am sorry but I can not do what you ask me. First, because now less than ever, I do not want to ask anything of Clemenceau, and also because such an application as so many unfortunate soldiers are fighting and are being killed for us, it seems that the timing is wrong, and all crosses must go to our defenders. It costs me to answer you so frankly and so my hope is that you will understand me and will not mind. All my love to you and all yours." In fine condition.

Monet and Georges Clemenceau first met in 1860, lost touch, and rekindled their friendship in 1908 when Clemenceau bought a property in Bernouville near Monet's Giverny gardens. The war weighed heavily on Monet's mind, as his son Michel served in the French Army. Monet's 'Weeping Willow' paintings were an homage to the fallen French soldiers of the war, and on November 12, 1918, the day after the Armistice, he wrote to Clemenceau: 'I am on the verge of finishing two decorative panels which I want to sign on Victory day, and am writing to ask you if they could be offered to the State with you acting as intermediary.' These panels consisted of his 'Water Lilies' compositions, which he continuously reworked until his death. With Clemenceau's aid they were bequeathed to the Musee de l'Orangerie, where they remain exhibited to this day.