Object number1962.1

The Seine at Saint-Cloud

Date1890

Artist Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863-1944)

CultureNorwegian

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsFramed: 33 1/16 x 28 3/8 x 3 9/16 in. (84 x 72 x 9 cm)
Unframed: 24 x 19 3/4 x 1 1/8 in. (61 x 50.2 x 2.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Morris Hadley (Katherine Blodgett, class of 1920)

On View

On view

Period19th c

Classification(s)

Painting

SignedSigned and dated (LL): E Munch 90

Bibliography(painting recorded in Munch files in Oslo); “Accessions of American Museums,” Art Quarterly, XXV, no. 4, winter 1962, p. 409, repr. p. 405; “Exhibit Planned,” Oregon Journal, May 30, 1963 Faison, S. Lane, Jr., Art Tours and Detours in New York State (New York: Random House, 1964), p. 233, repr. p. 232; Vassar College Art Gallery: Selections From The Permanent Collection (Poughkeepsie: Vassar College Art Gallery, 1967), p. 63-4, repr. (color); Vassar College Art Gallery: Paintings 1300-1900 (Poughkeepsie: VC Art Gallery, 1983), p. 182, repr.; Eggum, A. and R. Rapetti, Munch et la France (Paris: Reunion des Musées Nationaux, 1991), p. 77, repr.; (also appears in the 1989 CFM calendar, see file for details); Bjerke, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Edvard Munch/Harald Sohlberg: Landscapes of the Mind (New York: National Academy of Design, 1995), p. 128, repr.; Nobuyuki, Okabe, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College," (Japan: Yamagata Museum of Art) Cat. no. 13, p. 55; Berman, Patricia; Heller, Reihold; Prelinger, Elizabeth and McShine, Kynaston, "Edvard Munch: The Modern Life of the Soul," (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2006), p. 203, illustrated, plate 19; Dagen, Philippe," Hodler/Monet/Munch" (Paris: Editions Hazan/Marmottan Monet, 2016). p.65, Cat.17, repr.; Paugam, Sandra. Edvard Munch: Un Cri Dans La Nature = Edvard Munch: The Scream of Life. Paris: Cinétévé, 2022. https://docuseek2.com/ci-munch ProvenanceMr. Per L’Orsa, Oslo;
purchased by Mrs. Morris Hadley, New York, NY [Katherine Blodgett, class of 1920] through (Richard N. Tetlie, Art Consultant, Washington, DC), May 1959;
gifted to Vassar College January 1962

Vassar Exhibitions

Mastering Light: From the Natural to the Artificial

Selections from the Permanent Collection (1990)

Paris-New York: Modernist Painting in 19th and 20th century Masterworks from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College

Exhibition HistoryWilliamstown, Williams College Museum of Art, “Williams-Vassar Exchange Exhibition,” February 28-March 18, 1966;

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, “Edvard Munch: Symbols and Images,” November 11, 1978-Februrary 19, 1979;

South Hadley, Mount Holyoke College Museum of Art, “Highlights from the Vassar College Art Gallery Collection,” August 2-November 19, 1990;

Paris, Musée d’Orsay, “Munch et la France,” September 24, 1991-January 5, 1992 (Oslo, Munch Museum, January 27-April 21, 1992). Cat. no. 3, repr.;

New York, NY, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, “Highlights from the Vassar College Collection,” July 13-September 11, 1993;

New York, NY, National Academy of Design, “Edvard Munch and Harald Sohlberg: Landscapes of the Mind,” October 15, 1995-January 15, 1996. Cat. no. 6, repr.

New York, New York, Museum of Modern Art, "Edvard Munch: The Modern Life of the Soul," Febuary 17 - May 8, 2006

Japan, Shimane Art Museum, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," March 7 - May 11, 2008. Cat. no. 13, p 55.

Japan, Ishibashi Museum of Art, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," May 17 - July 20, 2008. Cat. no. , p .

Japan, Yamagata Museum of Art, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," July 30 - August 31, 2008. Cat. no. , p. .

Japan. Fuchu Art Museum, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," September 6 - November 3, 2008. Cat. no. , p. .

Japan, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," November 14 - December 14, 2008. Cat. , p. .

Poughkeepsie, New York, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, "Mastering Light: From the Natural to the Artificial," April 11 - June 29, 2014.

Paris, France, Musee Marmottan Monet, "Hodler / Monet / Munch," September 15, 2016 - January 22, 2017

Label TextThis painting is one of several river scenes that Norwegian artist Edvard Munch created in Saint-Cloud, a quiet Parisian suburb where he moved to escape a cholera outbreak after relocating to the city on an art scholarship. Painted not long after his father passed away, the nighttime scene is infused with a melancholic mood that sets it apart from other versions of the motif. Its composition pivots around a lone tree standing slightly off-center on a riverside bank with a bridge receding into the distance. The street in the foreground is almost empty, with only a hint of human presence suggested in a shadow at the lower left, and a partially obscured profile of a man at the lower right. The loose brushwork and attention to atmosphere relate to Munch’s experiments with Impressionist-inflected effects, yet the painting’s overall tenor points to a concern with a more inward-looking state.

Terms

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu