Documents associated with: Winter Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1887-1888
Record 6 of 30
System Number: 04086
Date: [September/October 1887?][1]
Author: Claude Monet[2]
Place: Giverny
Recipient: JW
Place: London
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler M356
Document Type: ALS[3]
Giverny par Vernon
eure
Mon cher Whistler
Non certes je n'ai pas oublié ma promesse, et c'est très aimable à vous de me la rappeler car je serai très heureux d'exposer à Londres[4] et surtout en votre compagnie.
J'espère donc voir bientôt Duret[5] ou recevoir un mot [p. 2] de lui me donnant tous les renseignements nécessaires. Mais ai-je bien le droit d'exposer avec vous puisque votre société n'est composée que d'artistes Britanniques[6], et ne craignez vous pas qu'en me présentant vous n'allez pas vous attirer bien des ennuis.
Enfin j'espère que vous saurez vaincre les difficultés. je le [p. 3] souhaite vivement et vous en remercie
tout à vous
Claude Monet
Certainement je viendrai à Londres au moment de l'exposition[7], mais vous même je pensais toujours vous voir arriver à Paris
This document is protected by copyright.
Translation:
Giverny par Vernon
Eure
My dear Whistler
No certainly I have not forgotten my promise, and it is very kind of you to remind me of it because I shall be very happy to exhibit in London and above all in your company.
I therefore hope to see Duret or receive a note [p. 2] from him giving me all the necessary information. But have I really the right to exhibit with you since your society is composed only of British artists, and do you not fear that by presenting me you might attract not a few problems.
Well I hope that you will know how to overcome the difficulties. I [p. 3] heartily wish it and thank you for it
Yours
Claude Monet
Certainly I shall come to London at the time of the exhibition, but I still hope to see you arriving in Paris yourself
Notes:
1. [September/October 1887 ?]
This letter predates Winter Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1887-1888.
2. Claude Monet
Claude Monet (1840-1926), artist [more].
3. ALS
This letter was published in MacDonald, Margaret F. and Joy Newton, 'Letters from the Whistler Collection (University of Glasgow). Correspondance with French Painters,' Gazette des Beaux Arts, no. 128, December 1986, pp. 201-214.
4. d'exposer à Londres
Whistler took office as President of the Society of British Artists in December 1886. When Monet visited him May 1887, he agreed to exhibit with the SBA, while Whistler expressed an interest in an exhibition in Paris (letter from Monet to Duret, 13 August 1887, Musée du Louvre, published in Wildenstein, Daniel, Claude Monet: biographie et catalogue raisonné, Lausanne, 1974-91, 5 vols., vol. 3, no. 794).
5. Duret
Théodore Duret (1838-1927), art critic and collector [more].
6. d'artistes Britanniques
Inviting Monet caused trouble in the SBA though a proposal that "the discretionary power of the President does not extend to the invitation of pictures for Exhibition" had to be dropped. Monet and Alfred Émile-Léopold Stevens (1823-1906), history and portrait painter [more], were the two foreigners invited to exhibit. Whistler resigned as PRBA in June 1888.
7. au moment de l'exposition
The winter exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists (it was granted a Royal Charter in 1887) was supposed to open on Friday 25 November 1887 but the invitation cards were sent late so it was held on Saturday.