Hillsides near Vétheuil
Claude Monet·1881
Historical Context
Hillsides near Vétheuil (1881) at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen shows the chalk and limestone bluffs that rose above the Seine valley at Vétheuil, one of the defining landscape features of the region. These elevated hillsides gave Monet expansive views across the valley and offered a contrast to his many river-level compositions. The 1881 hillside paintings were made as he was preparing to leave Vétheuil, and they have a breadth and spaciousness that suggests his developing ambition for larger-scale landscape views—an ambition fulfilled in the great series paintings of the 1890s at Giverny.
Technical Analysis
The hillside composition places vegetation and chalk in the upper two-thirds against a sky zone. Monet uses broad confident strokes for the chalky slopes, varied brushwork for the scrubby vegetation. The palette is warm and summery, the hillside tones ranging from warm cream to sun-bleached grey-green.
