Monet spends much of his time in his countryside at Giverny, northwest of Paris. And he considers his garden his masterpiece more beautiful than him. The purpose of his art is to capture the same subject over and over again. But always at different times of the day or in different light conditions.
This obsession of Monet's makes him go into ecstasy in front of nature, just as perhaps we go into ecstasy in front of his works. And this is the emotion I feel in front of Monet's works that completely distance me from the world around me and bring me back into nature with him in his garden.
The water lily pond in the Musée d'Orsay is just one of several beautiful water lily paintings in the series. But this one in particular is one of my favourites. I had the opportunity to see it for the first time as a child and then on several of my tours in Paris. The colors combine with the play of light on the pond and in the representation of the arched bridge that crosses the work. In his garden at Giverny Monet becomes a creator himself and studies the play of light for over 20 years by immersing himself in nature.
And nothing happens by chance. Monet was born in 1840 into a wealthy family and spent most of his childhood in Le Havre, a town on the northwest coast of France. Here he met the painter Eugène Boudin who encouraged him to paint outdoors and passed on his passion to him. This will become the choice of expression in his works throughout his life. The aim of him is to capture the feeling of being part of nature through light, colors and changes of tone. And to convey the feeling of being present in the face of change over time.
The characteristic of Monet's painting is that it is considered unfinished because in that period the academic style does not accept that the brushstroke is seen in the work. His garden in Giverny, especially in the last years of his life, becomes the perfect refuge to carry on impressionist ideas and represent light, water and nature. He creates two separate zones: a flower garden and a water garden inspired by the Japanese model.
It really seems like the perfect place to give birth to the series of works featuring water lilies that are now found in all the most important museums in the world. He exhibited 10 different variations in 1900, a year after this one was made. And he paints with rapid and very short strokes, almost creating spots on the surface of the canvas. These spots have two main purposes: to create a sense of texture in the foliage and to make the most of the play and variations of light. Sometimes even Monet applies color with a palette knife to give more substance to his works. And some inventions of this period in Europe have a major impact on his art. One of these is the invention of tube colors in 1841. The possibility of having colors already mixed and transportable even outside has really changed the approach of many artists to the realization of their works. And certainly Monet is one of those most influenced by this discovery.
00:00 Intro
00:31 Monet and nature
01:47 Giverny and the water lilies
04:04 Composition
05:26 Details
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Art and the Cities is my personal art and travel blog and RU-vid channel. Or rather of art trips. I'm not only talking about art history but also about travel, museums, galleries, the art market, love stories, books, exhibitions and much more.
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Soon,
Clelia
#art
8 июл 2024
