The ultraviolet test

When ultraviolet light is thrown upon the paintings we receive a strong fluorescence in the Garden and the Meadow Scene. This reaction possibly comes from a rose madder lake. We know that the same kind of fluorescence is found in the paintings ’Valley of the Petite Creuse’, 1889, ’Grainstack, Sunset’, 1889-91, ’Rouen Cathedral, Facade, 1892-94, though here the fluorescence is very weak. We have been told by Martin Wyld,  National Gallery, London that they have found fluorescence in two paintings by Monet, though one is only a ’possible’ since the reaction is very weak. Fluorescence is also found in four other impressionist paintings at the Natinal Gallery.

The madder lake was very expensive. It must be of some interest in the work of attribution, that Claude Monet really used this colour, since the number of colours on his pallette were very few.

The provenance of the paintings

We know that there has been a great interest very early for Claude Monet in Norway. Of course Monet´s visit to Norway 1895 made this interest increase. Nasjonalgalleriet in Oslo was in fact the first museum to buy a painting by Claude Monet.

Monet went to Norway to visit his son in law Jacques Hoschedé who worked with shipping in Norway. Jacques married a norwegian, Inga Joergensen who had been married before and had a little girl Anna Bergman.

So far we do not know how our three paintings once  found their way to Norway. The paintings were bought at auction in Olso. They were sold at this auction by a lady, Elisabeth Reiss. Her husband Einar Reiss should have bought them around 1945. She did not know anything about where or from whom. Mr Reiss worked as a ship-broker in Oslo.

To find the provenance of the paintings is of course extremely important, in fact necessary!  On the reverse of the paintings and on the frames we do find a lot of information that might help us to find the answers!

This is where we really do need your help!  Here are e.g. stock- and exhibition-numbers that easily can reveal the secrecy of these three paintings. The frames carry important information – what does it mean?

We have a lot of questions that seek their answers – can you help?

How do we explain that these paintings still remain together – is´nt it very mysterious indeed?

Do you have an explanation why all the three paintings once were taken away from their stretchers?

Read more about this in the following pages – and please prepare yourself for something very peculiar…