The Zaans Museum in Zaandam near Amsterdam has acquired a painting from French painter Claude Monet, entitled ‘The Voorzaan and the Westerhem’ for a record amount of 1,160,000 euro. The Zaans Museum is the third Dutch museum to own a Monet from the Zaandam period, the other two are in more well-known museums, the Van Gogh in Amsterdam and the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. Fans will be able to admire the painting as of this fall.
In May 1871 Monet left London to live in Zaandam where he made 25 paintings. His main attraction was the landscape, windmills, the river Zaan, and the typical wooden houses of the area. “Zaandam is quite remarkable and there is enough to paint for a lifetime,” Monet wrote to his friend and colleague Camille Pissarro. “Houses in all colours, hundreds of mills and delightful boats.”
(Links: www.trouw.nl, www.monetinzaandam.nl)
