Catalogue of Monet’s paintings of Bordighera, Sasso, Dolceacqua and Ventimiglia (1884): image, size, museum and inventory number.
In the winter of 1884 Claude Monet spent almost three months in Bordighera and painted about forty canvases; sources count from 38 to over 50, depending on whether the canvases of Sasso, Dolceacqua and Ventimiglia are included. Today they are scattered across museums around the world and private collections. This page catalogues 18 of them, with museum, size, inventory number and image.
For the story of his stay and the spots where Monet set up his easel, see the guide Monet in Bordighera. Here the list is organised by subject, so you can compare the paintings with the places you can still find in town.
Views of the old town: the roofs, the bell tower and the sea behind the pines.
The old town seen from the west, with the sea behind it. Two pine trunks frame the view and the red roofs stand out against the green. It is signed and dated “Claude Monet 84”. In June 1884 Paul Durand-Ruel bought it together with 20 other Bordighera canvases.
The trees fill almost the whole canvas, and the town can be glimpsed in the distance between the greenery and the sea.
The Moreno garden, on the Strada Romana, was the private estate where Monet obtained permission to paint: in a letter of 5 February 1884 he called it “an earthly paradise”. Here are the canvases with palms, lemons and olive trees.
Palm trees lit by the morning sun, with a bell tower in the centre and the sea in the background.
In French the title is “Bosquet de citronniers à Bordighera”.
Old olive trees with twisted trunks.
The villas of the English colony along the Strada Romana, and the countryside canvases around the town.
The street is deserted, dominated by a tall palm and dense vegetation that hides most of the villas; the Alps can just be made out behind. Monet painted this street three times.
The garden of Villa Garnier, with Villa Etelinda on the left. Monet moves the palm to the centre and plays down the grandeur of the neighbouring villa; the bell tower of Santa Maria Maddalena in the background marks the old town.
This is the largest canvas in this list.
During his stay Monet also travelled to the nearby valleys and towns. These canvases do not show Bordighera, but belong to the same trip.
The valley rising behind Bordighera in full sun, with palm trees and a square-shaped building.
The Doria castle above the village, with the old bridge.
The old bridge over the Nervia seen from below.
A panorama of the town, with the sea and vegetation in the foreground.
In Europe, look for the canvases at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam (three works), the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and the Kelvingrove in Glasgow. In the United States they are in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Santa Barbara, Omaha, Dallas, Williamstown and West Palm Beach.
Works often travel for loans and exhibitions: before you go, check the museum’s website to see whether the canvas is on display. Bordighera has no originals on permanent display, but the town organises exhibitions and events, such as the one planned for 5 December 2026 for the centenary of Monet’s death.
Many of the painted places can still be recognised: the Moreno garden (partly in the Monet Gardens), the Strada Romana with its villas, the Mostaccini area and the Sasso valley. The route and guided tours are in the guide Monet in Bordighera; from here you can go on a day trip to Dolceacqua or Ventimiglia, where Monet painted more canvases.
FAQ
About forty: sources give from 38 to over 50, depending on whether the canvases of Sasso, Dolceacqua and Ventimiglia are counted. In June 1884 the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel bought 21 of them at once.
In museums in Europe and the United States, including Potsdam, Paris, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Saint Petersburg, and in private collections. The list with each museum is on this page.
There are no originals on permanent display in town. In Bordighera you can follow the painted places on the guided tour “I luoghi di Monet” and see reproductions during exhibitions and events.
It is the number in the catalogue raisonné of Monet’s works compiled by Daniel Wildenstein (1996 edition). We give it only where the museum’s own record does.
The paintings are in the public domain because Monet died in 1926. The photographs come from Wikimedia Commons: where the licence requires credit, you will find it at the bottom of the page.
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