The Red Kerchief (c. 1868–73): Art, History and Details

The Red Kerchief (c. 1868–73) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This painting depicts Monet's first wife, Camille, outside on a snowy day passing by the French doors of their home at Argenteuil. Her face is rendered in a radically bold Impressionist technique of mere daubs of paint quickly applied, just as the snow and trees are defined by broad, broken strokes of pure white and green.

Object facts

• Title: The Red Kerchief
• Date: c. 1868–73
• Creator attribution: Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on fabric
• Dimensions: Framed: 128.3 x 105.7 x 14.6 cm (50 1/2 x 41 5/8 x 5 3/4 in.); Unframed: 99 x 79.8 cm (39 x 31 7/16 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1958.39

A detail from the museum

Madame Monet’s red cape draws the viewer’s attention beyond the glass of the French doors capturing her glance, a brief moment frozen in time. This painting was very special to Monet and he kept it with him for his entire life.

Collection credit

Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.

Further reading listed by the museum

• Becker, Christoph. Monet's Garden. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2004.
• Geffroy, Gustave. Claude Monet, sa vie, son œuvre. Paris, FR: G. Crès et cie, 1922.
• Trevise, Duc de. "Le Pelerinage de Giverny." Revue de l'Art Ancien et Moderne 51 (January-May 1927: 42-50.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.