" Actively involved in the planned sale, I would like it to be a success for our dear friend and his children. I have written directly to the painters who have shown sympathy to Sisley ."
Sold
Claude MONET (1840.1926)
Autographed letter signed to the collector and patron François Depeaux.
Four octavo pages on mourning paper with Giverny letterhead by Vernon
Giverny. March 21 [18]99.
"I wrote directly to the painters who had shown sympathy for Sisley ."
An important letter from Monet, devoted to the estate of Alfred Sisley's works, who had died a few weeks earlier. The master of Impressionism was simultaneously working on a public sale of Sisley's paintings and a fundraising campaign for the Luxembourg Museum, wishing to preserve the memory of his friend and the interests of his two children.
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"My dear Henri, I received your letter of the 20th and also your telegram this morning. Mademoiselle Jeanne has just written to Madame Depeaux to let her know that she will arrive tomorrow, Wednesday, at 4:55 a.m. As for me, since I see that we will have difficulty contacting each other, and not wanting to be away at the moment because of my wife, I am writing to you what I wanted to tell you."
1° that the subscription for the purchase of a painting by Sisley to offer to Luxembourg should be closed shortly .
2. That the sale of several Sisley paintings and donations from his friends and colleagues having been decided for April 29-30 and May 1, it was urgent, before undertaking anything else, to first choose the painting to be offered to the Luxembourg Museum and then the canvases intended for public auction. Once this was done, it would then be a matter of prudently taking advantage of the offers that would arise, but the first thing, in my opinion, would be to definitively make these two choices. And since you are in Paris, you could consult on this matter with Messrs. Tavernier and Viau, as I do not wish to assume any responsibility whatsoever.
In short, to do a good job, we need to be in complete agreement, and I would be sorry if I were accused of having missed a beneficial opportunity for the [Sisley] children. It is this consideration that makes me want these two things done once and for all.
Actively involved in the planned sale, I would like it to be a success for our dear friend and his children. I have written directly to the painters who have shown sympathy for Sisley . I have already received several favorable replies and I have every reason to hope that it will go as planned. If it is urgent that I come to Paris, please telegraph me immediately. Yours very devotedly, Claude Monet.
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The final years of the British painter Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) were difficult. Suffering from throat cancer, he was too weak to attend the funeral of his wife, who died in October 1898. His illness progressed rapidly. On January 21, 1899, he summoned Claude Monet to his home in Moret-sur-Loing to say goodbye and beg him to look after his two children. He died eight days later, on January 29.
Monet took the initiative to organize an exhibition and sale of his studio to benefit his children, Jeanne-Adèle and Pierre Sisley. Several galleries, both in Paris and New York, exhibited the artist's paintings, and articles paid tribute to his memory. On May 1st, the auction of his studio and works donated by friends, including Mary Cassatt, Cézanne, Pissarro, Renoir, Rodin, and Vuillard, took place at Georges Petit's gallery.
A discerning collector and patron of Sisley, François Depeaux (1853-1920) owned more than fifty of the artist's paintings. His collection of nearly 600 works also included several by Monet, as well as pieces by Pissarro, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Part of his collection was dispersed at auction at the Hôtel Drouot in 1901. In 1903, he offered 300 paintings to the Rouen Museum of Fine Arts. In 1909, the museum's curator accepted a donation of fifty-three Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works.