Description

Claude Monet probably painted this and other still lifes in 1879–80, knowing that they would be more readily marketable than his landscapes. In Apples and Grapes, however, he employed the complexity of color, light, and texture found in his most Impressionist landscapes. This is particularly evident in the extensive cloth surface—the play of light on the horizontal brushstrokes (indicating the folds in the tablecloth) recalls earlier canvases in which Monet used similar short horizontals of variegated colors to suggest water rippling in the sunlight.

Provenance

The artist (d. 1926); possibly sold to Cahuzac, Paris, Nov. 1880, in addition to two other paintings (Fleurs, pommes; and Les Saules), for 1,000 francs [ per Monet’s livre de comptes, ventes octobre–décembre 1880, as “M. Cahuzac / Vendre trois toiles / fleurs pommes – fruits / Les Saules – ensemble 1000.” The livre de comptes is located at the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris; photocopy of this page in curatorial object file]; possibly Durand-Ruel, Paris, c. 1883 [per Wildenstein 1996. The Durand-Ruel Archives could not verify this information, as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]. Catholina Lambert, Paterson, N.J., by May 16, 1895 [per Durand-Ruel Archives, “Acheté par Durand-Ruel NY (stock 1421, as Fruits) à Catholina Lambert le 16 mai 1895,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, May 16, 1895 [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 1421, as Fruits), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; sold to Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, for $8,100 [see previous; also a purchase receipt on Durand-Ruel letterhead, dated Dec. 21, 1915, includes this painting as one of a number sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to M. A. Ryerson, photocopy in curatorial object file]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.