Boulevard des Capucines (Monet)

Boulevard des Capucines
ArtistClaude Monet
Year1873-74
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions80.3 cm × 60.3 cm (31.6 in × 23.75 in)
LocationNelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

Boulevard des Capucines is an oil on canvas painting of the famous Paris boulevard by French Impressionist artist Claude Monet, created between 1873-1874. The painting depicts a snowy street scene looking down the boulevard towards the Place de l'Opera.[1] Monet painted the work from the photography studio of Félix Nadar at 35 Boulevard des Capucines.[2][3] The elevated vantage point and loose brushstrokes allow the audience to see the commotion of the boulevard captured in the work from a position high above street level.[4] Certain aspects of the painting have parallels in the contemporary photography of Monet's day and in Japanese prints. These art forms may have influenced Monet in painting Boulevard des Capucines.[2] Monet painted two distinct versions of the scene, one vertical and one horizontal. The horizontal version housed at The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow is believed to be the version that was exhibited at the first Impressionist exhibit in 1874.[1]

  1. ^ a b Kelly, Simon; Watson, April M.; Coughlin, Maura; McWilliam, Neil (2013). Impressionist France: Visions of a Nation from Le Gray to Monet. Saint Louis, Kansas City: Saint Louis Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-300-19695-5.
  2. ^ a b Distel, Anne; Hoog, Michael; Moffett, Charles S.; Huyghe, René (1974). Impressionism: A Centenary Exhibition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 12, 1974-February 10, 1975. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 159.
  3. ^ Isaacson, Joel (Spring 2021). "Monet: Le Boulevard Des Capucines En Carnival". Nineteenth Century Art Worldwide. 20 (1).
  4. ^ Callen, Anthea (2000). "Chapter Three: Canvas, Texture, and Materiality". The Art of Impressionism: Painting Technique and the Making of Modernity. New Haven: Yale University Press.