Apples and Grapes

A shallow wicker basket rests upon a white tablecloth.
Inside, an abundant autumn harvest of grapes and apples is heaped high.
A few more apples lie scattered casually around it.
The tabletop tilts dramatically toward the viewer.
The background wall and the depth of the room are scarcely visible.

Claude Monet is widely remembered as a landscape painter who pursued outdoor light and atmosphere.
Why, then, did this master of Impressionism confine himself indoors?
Why did he paint such classical still lifes?

In fact, from the autumn of 1879 into the following year, when this piece was created,
circumstances prevented him from painting en plein air.
One reason was the relentless, heavy rain that battered the village of Vétheuil.
The other was a profound sense of loss that shook him to his core.

On September 5, 1879,
his beloved wife Camille, who had modeled for so many of his works, passed away.
She was only 32.
Overcome with grief, Monet may have found it simply too painful
to gaze upon the outdoor landscapes where traces of Camille still lingered.
Retreating to his attic studio to paint still lifes
served as a self-protective shelter against his sorrow.

He had to sell paintings to survive.

Following Camille's death, Monet had two sons to support.
Moreover, he had to provide for the family of his patron, who had gone effectively bankrupt:
Ernest Hoschedé's wife, Alice, and her six children.
Monet found himself the sole provider for a household of nearly ten people.

Yet the landscapes he submitted to the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in 1879 were met with cold indifference by critics.
Monet thus chose the subject matter that sold best in the art market.
He was compelled to strategically produce still lifes that collectors found accessible.
Alice's daughter Marthe, who would later become his stepdaughter,
wrote in her notebook in late November 1879:
"Monet is working very hard on some charming still lifes."

In December 1879,
amid the biting winter wind,
Monet borrowed 50 francs for travel expenses from the Vétheuil postmaster.
Carrying several completed still lifes, he made his way to Paris by foot and train through deep snow.
There, the art dealer Georges Petit purchased one of his still lifes for 500 francs,
allowing Monet to narrowly overcome his financial crisis.