Detail of Dr. Leclenche by Monet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2018

Title: Dr. Leclenché

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1864

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 18 x 12 3/4 in. (45.7 x 32.4 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin C. Vogel, 1951

Accession Number: 51.32

Monet’s son Michel identified the sitter for this small, informal portrait as the artist’s physician, Dr. Leclenché. Made in 1864, when Monet was still developing his skills as a figure painter, the likeness is nonetheless full of expressive details, from the doctor’s jauntily crossed legs to the cigar he holds nonchalantly in his left hand. His slightly exaggerated gestures may owe a debt to Monet’s youthful stint as a caricaturist.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437104