Claude Monet's promissory note of 18 October 1875

Claude Monet's promissory note of 18 October 1875. In the document the artist acknowledges receipt of a loan of 1,000 francs from Gustave Manet, brother of the painter Édouard Manet.

To obtain the loan, Monet had to pledge 35 paintings. The artist promises to repay the debt from the proceeds of an forthcoming auction. Among the paintings pledged was the unfinished "La Japonaise", one of the most significant works of his career at that time. Today "La Japonaise" hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is valued at 100 million dollars.

At the height of the financial crisis that struck France after the stock market crash of 1873, Claude Monet found himself on the brink of ruin. His pictures went unsold, his income was falling rapidly, and the artist was obliged to borrow from friends even the most trifling sums to make ends meet.

This note has now been put up for sale at a certain auction, which I shall not name for a very good reason

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is the

Frederic Leighton

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Claude Monet's promissory note of 18 October 1875

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

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