Shaunacy Ferro
A previously unknown drawing by Claude Monet has
been uncovered, found tucked behind another pastel. The hidden artwork was
located behind the mount of an already-rare piece, and was only discovered
after London art dealer Jonathan Green brought the bargain pastel combo (along
with a third from the same period) home from a 2014 auction in Paris.
Though Monet was avid about drawing and
sketching, the Impressionist artist was best known for his paintings, and his
pastels are less common. The previously unknown pastel depicts the jetty and
lighthouse in Le Havre, the French town where Monet grew up. His famous
Impression, Sunrise—the painting that gave Impressionism its name—also depicts
a port in Le Havre.
Monet himself gave the three pastels as a wedding
present to his art dealer’s granddaughter in 1924, and the works had stayed in
the family until appearing at the Paris auction last year. The unknown pastel
was authenticated by the Wildenstein Institute, a French art research center.
All three pastels are thought to be from 1868, when Monet was just starting out
as a young artist.