Palm Tree at Bordighera

Claude Monet traveled to Bordighera on the Italian Riviera in early 1884 for what was supposed to be a three-week visit. He stayed nearly three months. In letters to sculptor Auguste Rodin, he described himself "fencing, wrestling with the sun" as he struggled to capture the brilliant Mediterranean light.

The vegetation amazed him. Palm trees, pines, and exotic plants grew in profusion, motifs he rarely encountered in northern France. Rather than paint conventional landscapes, Monet focused on the dense vegetation itself, sometimes allowing only glimpses of sea through interlaced trunks. This approach pushed him toward colors he had never used before. He wrote of being driven "almost to madness" trying to express the beauty around him.

The painting shows Monet's sun-drenched hilltop vantage point, with foliage dominating the composition. Potter Palmer acquired the canvas in 1891, and the Palmer family gave it to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. The work measures 64.8 by 81.3 centimeters. Monet first visited the Italian coast with Renoir in December 1883, then returned alone to paint this extended series.