CLAUDE MONET and GEORGE W. THORNLEY La Douane, Effet de l'après-midi.
Lithograph printed in green on tan Chine appliqué on cream wove paper, circa 1892. 180x267 mm; 7 1/8x10 1/2 inches, full margins. Edition of 25. Signed by Monet in pencil, lower left. Printed by Belfond, Paris, with the blind stamp (Lugt225d, lower right recto). Published by Goupil, Paris. From L'Album de 20 lithographies d'après les tableaux de Claude Monet. A superb, richly-inked impression of this very scarce lithograph.
At the end of the 19th century, Monet (1840-1926), Edgar Degas (1834-1917) and Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) rediscovered lithography as a medium both to recreate their artistic conceptions on paper and, simultaneously, achieve widespread distribution of and acclamation for their work. These artists, who had invented new ways of transmitting impressions of light and color, engaged George William Thornley (1857-1935), an accomplished English lithographer and admirer of the Impressionists, to translate their designs into lithographs. The prints that emerged from these collaborative efforts are the only lithographs in color, save one by Pissarro, by these great Impressionist artists.
Until he met Thornley, Monet had evidenced no interest in making prints. Unlike Degas and Pissarro, who etched on copper and drew on stone or transfer paper, or Cézanne, Sisley and Renoir, who collaborated with Auguste Clot, the talented Parisian master printer, to create color lithographs, Monet either found printmaking too daunting or did not seek the public acclaim for his work that printmaking could provide. However, he was able to find a hospitable partner in Thornley. The resulting collaborative lithographs of landscapes and seascapes, signed by Monet in pencil, are informed with the elusive and shimmering light of his iconic Impressionist oil paintings.
