Claude Monet painted a series of paintings of the island-monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. They were begun in 1908 during the artist's only visit to the city. One of the best known is San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk, which exists in two versions.
Monet completed his paintings of Venice at home in France[1] and in 1912 showed them in Paris. Buyers included the Welsh collector Gwendoline Davies, who bought three paintings.
A painting by Monet, described as being of San Giorgio Maggiore, was seized in July 2016 by Swiss officials on behalf of U.S. authorities. The owner, Jho Low, embezzled funds from 1Malaysia Development BHD., a government investment fund. He had purchased the painting for $35 million.[2]
| Painting | Year | Catalog No | Museum | Picture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Giorgio Maggiore | 1908 | (W.1746) | ||
| San Giorgio Maggiore | 1908 | (W.1747) | Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales | |
| San Giorgio Maggiore | 1908 | (W.1748) | ||
| San Giorgio Maggiore | 1908 | (W.1749) | Indianapolis Museum of Art | |
| San Giorgio Maggiore by twilight | 1908 | (W.1750) | ||
In 2018, the National Gallery in London exhibited nine of the Venice paintings, including three paintings of the series, together in a single room, for the duration of a temporary exhibition titled Monet & Architecture, devoted to Claude Monet's use of architecture as a means to structure and enliven his art. This was a rare occurrence because no museum owns or exhibits more than two in a permanent collection.[3] [4]
The three paintings exhibited were the examples from the following collections: