Cat. 9. Caricature of Henri Cassinelli: “Rufus Croutinelli,” c. 1858

Technical Report

Technical Summary

Claude Monet’s Caricature of Henri Cassinelli (“Rufus Croutinelli") was drawn in graphite on smooth tan card. Some dark graphite lines used to define the figure created a slight deformation in the paper and are highly reflective in specular illumination. Shading with the side of the graphite point creates modeling in the face (fig. 9.1). Highlights result from an absence of media, allowing the light tonality of the paper to show through. Broad passages of crosshatched or intersecting graphite lines suggest patterns in the clothing. There is minimal creation of atmosphere or space other than the suggestion of shadow cast below the figure.

Signature

Claude Monet (recto, center top edge, in graphite).

Media and Support

Support Characteristics

Primary paper type

Tan, thick, smooth wove paper.1

Furnish

Uniform, without visible inclusions or colored fibers.

Formation

Even, machine made.

Other characteristics

All edges appear to have been cut down and are slightly irregular. There are approximately six pinholes forming a circular arrangement at the center top.

Dimensions

130 × 85 mm

Preparatory Layers

No artistic surface alterations or coatings are visible in normal conditions or under magnification. There is a pale-yellow visible-light fluorescence under UV illumination that is characteristic of a light gelatin surface sizing.

Media Characteristics

The work was drawn in graphite. The figure is defined with firm, dense lines that create slight deformation in the paper and reflect light in specular illumination. Some shading was created in the face with the side of the graphite point. Broad passages of pattern were created in the clothing with crosshatching or intersecting lines. There is only minimal creation of atmosphere or space other than the shadow below the figure. Faint, ruled graphite lines are visible along the upper right and bottom edges, 2–3 mm in from the edges.

There is no drawing on the verso.

Compositional Development

No revisions or changes are visible in the composition in normal conditions or under magnification.

Surface Treatment

No fixatives or coatings are visible in normal conditions, under UV illumination, or under magnification.

Condition History

The drawing is in stable condition. There is light surface soiling and slight transfer of graphite overall. Smudges and faint stains are visible in the upper right corner and at the bottom right edge. There are small spots of foreign material at the upper right corner and the lower right and lower left sides. Specular illumination reveals a short scratch at the lower center. The support has a slight concave curl overall.

The support is moderately discolored on the verso. There are numerous blue-wove and Japanese paper remnants around the perimeter on the verso from various hinging and mounting campaigns.
Kimberly Nichols

Provenance

Alfred Dusseuil (1878–1927), Paris.2

Sold by Henri Cottereau, Paris, to Carter H. Harrison (1860–1953), Chicago, winter 1927–28.3

Given by Carter H. Harrison to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.

Exhibition History

City Art Museum of St. Louis, Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, Sept. 25–Oct. 22, 1957, p. 17, cat. 97 (ill.); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Nov. 1– Dec. 1, 1957.

Art Institute of Chicago, Claude Monet: 1840–1926, July 22–Nov. 26, 1995, p. 23, cat. 1b (color ill.).

Williamstown, Mass., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings, June 24–Sept. 16, 2007, pp. 44–45, fig. 36; 300; London, Royal Academy, Mar. 17–June 10, 2007.

Selected References

Hugh Edwards, “The Caricatures of Claude Monet,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 37, 1 (Jan. 1943), p. 71 (ill.).

John Rewald, The History of Impressionism (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946), p. 34 (ill.).

Charles Merrill Mount, Monet, a Biography (Simon & Schuster, 1966), p. 396.

Maria and Godfrey Blunden, Impressionists and Impressionism, trans. James Emmons (Skira, 1970), p. 38 (ill.).

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet (Fratelli Fabbri, 1971), p. 92, no. 50 (ill.).

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 1 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1974), pp. 6, 40.

Rodolphe Walter, “Claude Monet as a Caricaturist: A Clandestine Apprenticeship,” trans. Eric Young, Apollo 103 (June 1976), pp. 489 and 492.

Harold Joachim and Sandra Haller Olsen, French Drawings and Sketchbooks of the Nineteenth Century, vol. 2 (University of Chicago Press, 1979), p. 71, no. 4B4.

Diane M. Kelder, The Great Book of French Impressionism (Abbeville, 1980), p. 174 (ill.).

Ralph E. Shikes and Steven Heller, The Art of Satire: Painters as Caricaturists and Cartoonists from Delacroix to Picasso (Pratt Graphics Center/Horizon, 1984), p. 30 (ill.).

Denis Rouart, Monet (Nathan, 1990), p. 16 (ill.).

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), p. 145, cat. D495 (ill.).

Andrew Forge, Monet, Artists in Focus (Art Institute of Chicago, 1995), pp. 8; 9, fig. 2.

Birgit Zeidler, Claude Monet: Life and Work (Könemann, 2000), pp. 4 (ill.), 6 (ill.), 7.

Norio Shimada, Inshoha bijutsukan [History of impressionism] (Shogakukan, 2004), p. 54 (ill.).

Anne-Marie Bergeret-Gourbin, Honfleur et les peintres: 1820–1920 (Falaises, 2007), p. 104.

Ségolène Le Men, Monet (Citadelles et Mazenod, 2010), pp. 34; 36, fig. 23; 38; 42.

Other Documentation

Inscriptions and Distinguishing Marks

Recto

Inscription
Location: lower left
Method: graphite
Content: Rufus Croutinelli

Verso

Mark
Location: lower center right
Method: graphite
Content: Claude Monet

Mark
Location: lower left
Method: graphite
Content: 1933.893

Stamp
Location: center
Method: brown ink
Content: The Art / Institute of / Chicago

Examination Conditions and Technical Analysis

Raking Visible Light

Paper support characteristics identified.

Transmitted Visible Light

Paper mold characteristics identified.

Ultraviolet-Induced Visible Fluorescence (365 nm)

Light surface sizing detected overall.

Binocular Microscopy (80–100x)

Media and handling identified.

Image Inventory

The image inventory compiles records of all known images of the artwork on file in the Imaging Department and in the conservation and curatorial files in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 9.2).

2) According to Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), pp. 145, cat. D495 (ill.); 144, cat. D490 (ill.). Also according to the Durand-Ruel Archives, “Alfred Dusseuil (174 boulevard Pereire) deposited at Durand-Ruel Paris seven 7 [sic] drawings ‘Portraits charge’ on 2nd February 1927, which were returned to him on 14th March 1927. However, we have no further information (no image, no dimensions); thus no possibility of identifying these drawings.” See Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 9, 2014, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. In short, of the ten caricatures in the Art Institute’s collection, it is impossible to determine which seven were previously owned by Dusseuil.

Nevertheless, scholar Géraldine Lefebvre has confirmed that Alfred Dusseuil was the second son of Le Havre collector Georges Dusseuil (1848–1926). See Géraldine Lefebvre to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 3, 2014, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. Georges was a collector of modern art and a supporter of the Musée Malraux in Le Havre. In addition, Lefebvre reviewed the estate documents for Alfred Dusseuil dated 1929 and found no mention of works of art, thereby supporting Wildenstein’s assertion. See Lefebvre to the Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 31, 2014, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. Finally, the Caricature of Mario Uchard (cat. 5 [D499]) has a mostly illegible graphite inscription on the verso in the lower right, which might be “Al Dusseuil” (see cat. 5; Inscriptions and Distinguishing Marks). It is therefore possible that, like a number of other caricatures in the Art Institute’s collection, this drawing was once owned by Georges Dusseuil, passed to his son upon his death in 1926, and was sold to Henri Cottereau at some point between March 14 and November 3, 1927. The number preceded by a D refers to drawings in the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Wildenstein, Claude Monet, vol. 5.

Location/Negative #	Format	Purpose	Date	Lighting, Notes
G34370	Digital	Color correction	Unknown	Color correction of 51010
D14449	Color slide		Unknown	Copy of E29928
C16859	8 × 10 negative		c. 1943
E29928	CT		Nov. 7, 1994
51010	Digital	Rapid imaging	Sept. 29, 2006
G46309	Digital	OSCI	Oct. 25, 2013	Verso

Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago