MONET CLAUDE (1840-1926). Lot n° 33

L.A.S. "Claude Monet", [Giverny], March 21, 1899, addressed to "Monsieur Depeaux". 4 pages in-8 on double sheet of mourning paper, headed "Giverny par Vernon Eure". "Dear Mr. Depeaux, I received your letter of the 20th and also your telegram this morning. Mademoiselle Jeanne has just written to Madame Depeaux to let her know that she will arrive tomorrow Wednesday at 4:55. For my part, I see that we will have difficulty reaching each other, as I do not want to be absent at the moment because of my wife, so I am writing you what I wanted to tell you: 1° that the subscription for the purchase of a painting by Sisley to be offered to the Luxembourg should be closed. 2° That the sale of a certain number of paintings by Sisley on April 29-30 and May 1st. It was urgent, before starting anything else, to choose first the painting to be offered to Luxembourg and then the paintings intended for the public sale. Once this was done, we would only have to take advantage of the offers that would come along, but the first thing, in my opinion, would be to make these two choices definitively. And since you are in Paris, you could consult with Mrs. Tavernier and Vieux on this subject, as they do not want to assume any responsibility. In short, to do a good job, one must be in agreement and I would be sorry if I were to be blamed for having missed an opportunity that would have been beneficial to the children. It is this consideration that makes me wish that above all these two choices be made once and for all. I am currently dealing with the planned sale and I would like it to be a success for our friend and for his children. I have written directly to the painters who have shown [the, word omitted] sympathy to Sisley. I have already received several favorable replies and I have every reason to hope that it will work out well. If it is urgent that I come to Paris, telegraph me." Important letter recalling Monet's responsibilities to Sisley's children after the latter's death. Claude Monet wrote to the very important Impressionist art collector François Depeaux (1853-1920) to set up with him two actions in favor of the posterity of Alfred Sisley who died on January 29 preceding the sending of this letter. Claude Monet, who was the closest friend of the deceased, had been one of the last to see him. Sisley, who had been ill for several years and felt his end was near, had asked him to take care of his two children who had already lost their mother at the end of the previous year. Claude Monet then decided to organize a subscription to raise funds to buy a work by Sisley to donate to the Musée du Luxembourg. This museum was then the most important and historically the first to open to contemporary artists. Even if the purchasing policy of the institution was extremely conservative, the most discerning collectors worked hard to overcome the reticence to bring in works by the new generation of artists they supported. In this letter, Monet also attempts to coordinate with his correspondent to set a date for a sale of Sisley's works and works donated by other artists among his friends to help his destitute children financially. The sale will take place as Monet wished on May 1st at the Petit Gallery. Two years earlier Sisley had offered 147 of his paintings in this same gallery and had been cruelly unsuccessful and the critic and collector, Adolphe Tavernier mentioned in this letter had been one of the few buyers. This letter from Monet, who unlike Sisley, was materially successful towards the end of his career, shows the authority that the painter enjoyed in the Impressionist milieu. It also reminds us of the hard struggle against poverty and incomprehension that painters considered today as the most brilliant of their century had to fight.