Claude Monet - La Rue Montorgueil à Paris, 1878 - On Paper

Limited Edition of 150

Curated by Edward Enninful

Edward Enninful has selected a series of his favourite Monet artworks including ones which have heavily influenced his work notably “La Rue Montorgueil” from musée d’Orsay and fragments of the “Water Lilies” from the Musée de l’Orangerie. Regarded as one of the leading voices in the creative industry working today, Edward Enninful OBE, the curator of this special collection, has helped bring widespread distinction to global fashion. The only black person to serve as Editor-in-Chief in Vogue’s history, Edward successfully transformed the publication into a diverse and inclusive multi-platform brand. Edward’s dedication to diversity in fashion was honoured with the presentation of an OBE.

The Rue Montorgueil is often thought to depict a 14 July celebration. In fact it was painted on 30 June 1878 for a festival declared that year by the government celebrating “peace and work”. This was one of the events organised for the third Universal Exhibition in Paris a few weeks after it opened, and intended to be a symbol of France’s recovery after the defeat of 1870. This painting proposes a distanced vision of an urban landscape by a painter who did not mix with the crowd, but observed it from a window. The three colours vibrating in Monet’s painting are those of modern France.
The impressionist technique, with its multitude of small strokes of colour, suggests the animation of the crowd and the wavering of flags. With this painting, Monet revealed a hidden aspect of modernity, while simultaneously achieving the work of a “reporter”.

Provenance :
Claude Monet
La Rue Montorgueil à Paris. Fête du 30 juin 1878, 1878
Musée d'Orsay, Paris