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The Impressionism Movement
The name “Impressionism” was given to a movement of art that the world would have to...
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Monet, the Impressionists and their Time
The first paintings of these rebellious modern artists were produced in Paris...
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Monet at Giverny
When Monet discovered this little village surrounded by steep hills along the Valley of the Seine he was filled
with wonder...
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Monet's Garden
If Monet had a masterpiece aside from any one of his many paintings, it had to be the living art of his garden at Giverny...
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Monet's Water Garden
Monet wanted to make an Oriental water garden and he imported Chinese and Japanese bamboos, exotic water lilies,
and rare species of plants...
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onjour ! We have chosen to dedicate this March newsletter to a great painter who marked an era with his
style, audacity and talent: Claude Monet….as well as to a site in Normandy, 55 miles west
of Paris, that he loved and transformed into a truly living masterpiece: the gardens of Giverny.
But before continuing, please remember that you can
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Monet's Life
Born in Paris in 1840, Claude Monet spent most of his childhood years in the countryside
of Le Havre in Normandy. Bored with most of his academic studies, he used his talent
sketching caricatures of his teachers. He was 15 when he met with painter Boudin who
encouraged him to paint the coastal scenery he loved so much. Monet came back to Paris
in 1862 to study art; but as a fervent admirer of Delacroix and Romanticism, he did not
like the "realism" movement that was preeminent. Poor and frustrated, Monet kept on traveling
between the city and the country looking for materials to paint along the Seine River and
Channel coast. Ernest Hoschédé, a wealthy collector of art, became Monet's benefactor and
friend in 1876. Unfortunately, only two years later, a ruined Hoschede left his wife pregnant
with their sixth child. From then on, Alice Hoschede and her children were part of the Monet
family. When Camille Monet died a few months after the birth of their second son, Alice and
the painter lived as a couple. In 1883, Monet fell in love with a little village in Normandy,
which would become his haven of peace: Giverny. Alice died in 1911 and a desperate Monet
spent his last years in a solitary life with only visits by his lifelong friends -- Gustave
Geffroy, a journalist he had met many years earlier, and George Clemenceau, French Prime Minister,
who loved to escape the chaos of politics whenever possible. When Monet died December 5, 1926,
he was a rich man with his paintings famous all over the world. He had lived 43 years in perfect
harmony in this place that stirred his deepest passions of painting and gardening: Giverny.
Monet's Painting
Because he needed to earn a living, Monet's early paintings were often commissioned portraits.
However, from the beginning he had a particular attraction towards painting landscapes,
especially from the Seine River and the seashore of Normandy and Brittany. Although he enjoyed
painting members of his own family little by little the figures on his paintings became only a
small part of the landscape or scene surrounding them rather than the central theme, and eventually
totally disappeared from his work. Monet’s brushwork was inspired by Delacroix, and in the 1870's
he discovered and was deeply influenced by Japanese art. He especially loved the oriental use of
lines and bright colors. Monet was a perfectionist and always attempting what he would call "the
impossible". In this, he said he was not interested in painting the object or landscape itself; but
he wanted to capture what was in between him and what he painted, or the "instantaneity" of nature.
So frustrated and angry at times he was known to burn his canvases. Pioneer of the modern abstract
art, towards the end of his life the objects almost disappeared from his paintings, giving way only
to light, shape and color...
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| Recipe
for March 2004 |
Crème brulée
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Cooking SOS !
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The Impressionism Movement
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The name “Impressionism” was given to a movement of art that the world was initially
controversial but would grow to make its painters world famous. Monet was widely
considered the pioneer of this movement. In 1874, he organized an exhibition where he
presented, among others, a painting in his special style called "Impression, Sunrise",
showing a small boat at dawn in the middle of the ocean with the harbor of Le Havre in
the background. Louis Leroy, a critic at the journal "le Charivari", was quick to mock
this piece and claim, “these so-called artists wanted to give an “impression” because
they were incapable of finishing their work”. It was a time when even
painting outdoor landscapes was considered radical. These artists, Monet, Renoir, Manet,
and many others, opposed to the traditional art of the time they considered archaic and
dying, refused to attend the government art schools, which promoted realism. They did not
want to bring information through their paintings, but give the effect, the light, the
feeling and the impression of a specific scene or place so that the viewer could share
the actual experience.
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Monet, the Impressionists and their Time
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The first paintings of these rebellious modern artists were produced in Paris. In fact,
the city had become a great source of inspiration. Between 1850 and 1870 Baron Haussmann
had made Paris the largest construction site in the world - destroying hundreds of old houses,
and building large straight avenues to replace the narrow dark streets. Some disliked the
changes; other appreciated the space and brightness offered to the city, but most reproached
what they considered the dullness and monotony in the Haussmannian architecture. The
impressionists wanted to bring color and beauty back into the scenes to break this monotony.
The very new Gare Saint Lazare was a main subject for these painters, not only as the symbol
of the Industrial Revolution but also to depict another trend – that of a wealthy Parisian
subset to travel between Paris and suburban leisure. Another theme of the impressionists was
well clad Parisians strolling, boating, riding and dancing in the countryside. They wanted to
show the harmony and pleasure found only a few kilometers away from Paris, where everyone was
released from the tensions of urban life.
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Monet at Giverny
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When Monet discovered this little village surrounded by steep hills along the Valley of
the Seine he was filled with wonder. Immediately falling in love with a house with pink
stucco walls and attached barn, Monet rented it on the spot, transforming the barn into
his studio. The house stood on one hectare of land filled with apple trees and wild flowers.
The yet unmarried couple – Claude and Alice – with their eight children, and little
money - were not quite ready for the scornful gossip of their new neighbors. Nearly broke,
their first task was to grow vegetables and fruits to eat, and flowers to paint to earn a
living. All this soon changed as Monet's paintings became popular and made him a rich man.
His financial problems in the past, eventually he bought the house, renovated it and created
a new studio space. As his prosperity increased, and eventually married Alice in 1892, so
did his social circle. Many artists, painters, writers and journalists visited, including
George Clemenceau, French Prime Minister, Monet's dearest and closest friend.
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Monet's Garden
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If Monet had a masterpiece aside from any one of his many paintings, it was the living art
of his garden at Giverny. Dappled with playful light, shape and movement, this garden was an
ongoing project that Monet dedicated his life to. Over the seasons, he transformed the garden,
little by little, designing alleys, planting numerous types of plants and flowers making sure
they would bloom all year round. He had seven full-time gardeners and was very meticulous
and demanding. The spots of color, sizes, shapes and open spaces seemed random but were very well
orchestrated. Even when he had to leave Giverny for a while, he would give specific instructions
to his gardeners as to how and when to plant the seeds or take care of the beds. Still very influenced
by the orient, he had many Asian plants directly shipped from Japan and he replaced the apple trees
with Japanese cherry and apricot trees. Once the garden was planted, he loved to be surrounded by
the beauty and wanted to translate it into his paintings. He would wake up early every morning and
study the sky at dawn, observing the changes of light during the day. He had several series of
paintings that studied the same scenes at different stages of the day, and different seasons as well.
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Monet's Water Garden
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In 1893, after many administrative difficulties, Monet managed to buy a piece of meadow near his property.
He wanted to make an Oriental water garden. Importing Chinese and Japanese bamboos, exotic water
lilies, and rare species of plants, the neighborhood started to fear for their health. He had to
defend himself and convince the population that he would not poison the water. He eventually managed
to dig the pool and have a Japanese footbridge built which he painted green to match the surrounding
plants. Even this color choice was a topic of controversy as it was much more acceptable to use the
more traditional color: vermilion. In the end, he managed to realize what he dreamt of – create
a place meant for contemplation of nature in its perfection. There, he would sit for hours,
enjoying his solitude as well as the wonders displayed in front of him, always trying to capture the
colors, the reflections and the movements of the water lilies above the surface of the water, waiting
for the light to be perfect to reproduce it on the "toile" (canvas).
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Monet often said, "Besides gardening and painting, I don’t know a thing". He is simply one of the
geniuses of Modern Art and he has left a legacy of fabulous treasures. Giverny is one of these gifts
that absolutely warrants a visit. The house, typical home of the middle class in the nineteenth century,
is straight out of one of the impressionists’ paintings. The gardens of plants, flowers and water,
true “life size” masterpieces offer the visitor an extraordinary spectacle of sparkling colors, delicate
aromas and subtle sensations forever etched in one’s memory. Monet's garden is open to visits from April 1st to
the end of October except on Mondays. After discovering
the Gardens of Giverny, do not miss the wonderful American Art Museum of Giverny, established
thanks to the American industrialist, printer Daniel J. Terra (1911-1996). A major patron of the arts in the twentieth
century, he wished to pay homage to the colony of American impressionist artists who established
themselves in Giverny because of Claude Monet. The museum features a magnificent
collection of a thousand works of painters with true talents such as Theodore Robinson, Lilla Cabot Perry,
Frederick MacMonnies and Frederick Carl Frieske.
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