Springtime

Description Monet moved to Argenteuil, a suburban town on the right bank of the Seine River northwest of Paris, in late December 1871. Many of the types of scenes that he and the other Impressionists favored could be found in this small town, conveniently connected by rail to nearby Paris. In this painting, Monet was less interested in capturing a likeness than in studying how unblended dabs of color could suggest the effect of brilliant sunlight filtered through leaves. During the early 1870s, Monet frequently depicted views of his backyard garden that included his wife, Camille, and their son, Jean. However, when exhibited at the Second Impressionist Exhibition in 1876, this painting was titled more generically, "Woman Reading."

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
10/25/1951	Treatment	cleaned; coated
2/01/1960	Treatment	examined for loan; frame stabilized
6/01/1971	Treatment	cleaned
3/14/1979	Examination	examined for condition
10/22/1979	Treatment	cleaned; stabilized; coated
10/22/1979	Examination	examined for loan
1/31/1989	Treatment	stabilized; coated

Exhibitions

• Monet-Rodin. Galerie Georges Petit, Paris. 1889.
• From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1951.
• The Image Lost and Found. Metropolitan Boston Arts Center, Boston. 1960.
• 2e Exposition de Peinture. Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris. 1876.
• Contrasts in Impressionism. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1942.
• Themes and Variations in Painting and Sculpture. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1948.
• Monet and the Beginnings of Impressionism. The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, Manchester. 1949.
• Paintings by the Impressionists and Post Impressionists. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. 1950.
• Inaugural Exhibition at the Fort Worth Art Center. Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth. 1954.
• The Turn of the Century: Exhibition of Masterpieces, 1880-1920. Denver Art Museum, Denver. 1956.
• Claude Monet. City Art Museum of Saint Louis, St. Louis; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. 1957.
• A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, 1860-1909. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979.
• Hommage à Claude Monet (1840-1926). Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris. 1980.
• Claude Monet - Auguste Rodin: Centenaire de l’Exposition de 1889. Musee Auguste Rodin, Paris. 1989-1990.
• Monet: A Retrospective. Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo; Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya, Aici. 1994.
• Claude Monet 1840-1926. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. 1995.
• Before Monet: Landscape Painting in France and Impressionist Masters: Highlights from The Walters Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1998.
• Monet: Late Paintings of Giverny from the Musee Marmottan. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; San Diego Museum Of Art, San Diego; Portland Art Museum, Portland. 1998-1999.
• Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. 1999-2000.
• A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. 2002-2004.
• In Monet's Light: Theodore Robinson at Giverny. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford. 2004-2005.
• Claude Monet (1840-1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff. Wildenstein & Company, New York. 2007.
• 19th Century Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. 2010-2011.

Provenance Likely purchased by Paul Durand-Ruel (from the artist), Paris, 1872; purchased by Ernest Hoschedé, 1873; Sale Hoschedé, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 5-6, 1878, no. 54. Acquired by Mary Cassatt, ca. 1889; purchased by Henry Walters (through George Lucas as agent), Baltimore, 1903; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

Inscriptions [Signature] Lower right: Claude Monet

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1903