Ice Floes

The artwork

In the winter of 1893 the Seine froze near Giverny and Monet rushed to paint it, but the thaw came too soon for him: this canvas catches the ice just as it melts. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• Ice floes drifting on the Seine, in the white light of winter.
• Whites and the palest greys, fresh in a bathroom or a bedroom.
• A gift for anyone who loves winter and quiet landscapes.

The winter of 1892 to 1893 was long, with hard frosts and heavy snow. The river froze in mid-January and began to thaw on the 23rd. Monet chose a spot on the bank not far from his home at Giverny, in Normandy, and set to work against the clock.

He wrote to his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, that the thaw had come too soon: he had only four or five canvases in hand, and they were far from finished. He was too pessimistic, because by the end of February he had finished more than a dozen paintings in the series.

This is one of them. The broken ice slides across the water, and the far bank with its trees almost vanishes in the white light. The original is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which received it with the Havemeyer collection in 1929.

In a bright bathroom or a bedroom it brings the calm of a winter on the river. It will appeal to anyone waiting for the thaw to get back outdoors.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass