The Luncheon on the Grass
c. 1865
Medium
black chalk on blue laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 30.5 x 46.8 cm (12 x 18 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
1995.47.60
Art Historical Context
Claude Monet's *The Luncheon on the Grass*, created around 1865, is a captivating black chalk drawing on blue laid paper, measuring 30.5 x 46.8 cm. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, this work captures the artist's early experimentation during a pivotal moment in French art. At just 25 years old, Monet was transitioning from academic training toward the innovative plein-air techniques that would define Impressionism, though this intimate drawing hints at his emerging focus on everyday scenes bathed in natural light. The use of black chalk on blue p...
About the Artist
Claude Monet · 1840–1926
Claude Monet, born Oscar-Claude Monet on November 14, 1840, in Paris and raised in Le Havre, Normandy, began his artistic journey as a successful teenage caricaturist. His formal training started at the Le Havre secondary school of the arts in 1851, where he received his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard. Around 1858, he met Eugène Boudin, who became his pivotal mentor, introducin...