Giverny

I’ve wanted to see Monet’s house and gardens at Giverny ever since I saw “Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn.” Yes, I know I’m completely obsessed with Audrey, but there’s nothing wrong with that. One episode of the series focused entirely on Monet’s gardens, and I fell in love with Giverny even through a TV screen.

Monet lived at Giverny for the last 43 years of his life, first renting and eventually buying the house and lands there. The gardens became his passion, and he hired professional gardeners to help him maintain it. He had a particular love for Japanese prints and tried to recreate in nature what he had seen in those prints. He then went on to recreate those scenes in his paintings. Art imitating life imitating art.

Unfortunately, none of my plans to head out to Giverny have worked out. The gardens aren’t even open until April 1^st, so that meant my adventure had to wait until the end of the study abroad. I was all set to go on either the ninth or the tenth of April, but the SNCF had to get in the way. You have probably heard that the French really like to protest and really like to go on strike. Well, it turns out this is true. The SNCF, aka French national railways, has been on strike for more than a week, and it doesn’t look like things will let up any time soon. Most lines have been running normally, but the less popular rides, like the one out to Giverny, have been cancelled. I guess this means that my big plans of walking where two of my icons, Claude Monet and Audrey Hepburn, walked is put on hold for now.

Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d’Orsay was one of the most important places on my “must-see” list for Paris. I inherited my grandmother’s love for impressionism, and the Musée d’Orsay is the best place to feed that passion. Luckily, our fine arts class went on a visit today, mostly to see the works of Courbet, our teacher’s favorite artist. Valerie let us out of class early to give us a chance to explore, though. After a quick visit to the temporary exhibit, I made a beeline for the works by Monet.

The first one I saw was one I know well: Poppies Blooming. I have a print of this painting in a Monet collection of mine, and I love the soft greens and blues in it. The textures are amazing, letting you imagine the feel of the tall grass. You can even see the wind moving the grass and the trees.

I also saw Monet’s attempt at Dejeuner sur l’Herbe, which was near Manet’s iconic version. It was easy to see that Monet was still developing his own style when he created this work, since it looks quite different from his later paintings. The figures' faces are too defined and the background seems less spontaneous than later works.

The other paintings I found were less familiar. Monet’s painting of his wife Camille on her deathbed was quite sad. I think the dark colors he used must have been an expression of what he was feeling. I read tonight that Monet was horrified by the fact that his first instinct upon seeing his dead wife was to paint her. He worried that the artist had taken him over too completely.

In addition to seeing Monet’s works, I enjoyed seeing the paintings of other Impressionists like Degas and Renoir, two of my other favorites. Unfortunately, I had less than an hour before the museum closed, but I plan on going back a couple of days before I leave Paris. The bookstore was open later, so I was able to buy a great book on Monet filled with letters, sketches, and documents about the artist. I can’t wait to read it!

Once again, pictures weren't allowed, so you're seeing the internet versions.

National Gallery in London

Ariel and I actually ended up in the National Gallery kind of by accident. We had just bought tickets for Phantom of the Opera in Covent Garden and were wandering around the city trying to find St. Paul's Cathedral. We eventually did find St. Paul’s, but along the way we ran across Trafalgar Square and saw that the National Gallery was free. We had a few hours to kill, and Ariel is, after all, an art history major, so going in seemed like a really good idea. It turned out to be a really good idea, since the gallery is home to several of Monet’s paintings. Since I couldn’t take pictures in the gallery, I’ve included some from the internet.

I was excited to The Beach at Trouville not only because Monet created it, but also because it reminded me of Gigi. In the movie, Gigi cheats at a card game so that Gaston will have to take her to Trouville. Then everybody sings “The Night they invented Champagne,” and Gigi gets a little tipsy. Looking at the painting, I could just imagine that the girl in white was Gigi and the woman in black was her grandmother, Mamita. I think my favorite thing about the painting was the fact that I could actually see grains of sand stuck to it, since Monet painted it in the open air right on the beach.

I also enjoyed seeing The Thames below Westminster, since it’s a great representation of one of Monet’s favorite subjects: The Thames. He lived in London during the Franco-Prussian War, and throughout that period he created dozens of paintings of London’s famous river. This particular painting was a perfect example of how obsessed Monet was with capturing the fog of London.

His other paintings there included The Petit Bras at Argenteuil, the Bathers at La Grenouillère, and The Path through the Irises, which made me think of my Mom, since irises are her favorite flower. I felt like each of the paintings in the gallery represented different aspects of Monet’s style; one portrayed people, another urban life, another a landscape, another a still life. It was a great overview of his work, and it was definitely nice to read nameplates in English for a change.

Musée Marmottan

The Musée Marmottan is a must-see for any Monet lover. Several of his works were donated to the museum by a private collector in the mid 20^th century, and in the 1960s, Monet’s youngest son, Michel donated more. Michel also donated several of his father’s letters and pictures. I think the pictures of Monet may have been my favorite part. I love that he lived so recently that I can get a chance to know him in ways besides his paintings.

The most famous of Monet’s paintings at the Musée Marmottan would probably be Impression, Sunrise. Painted from Monet’s window in 1872, the painting was shown at the first independent exhibition by the Impressionists, who didn’t yet have that name. Monet had given the painting its title because he felt that he couldn’t rightfully call it a “view” of a sunset. Critics ran away with the term “Impressionism,” eventually applying it to the entire artistic movement. I find the painting interesting because the colors seem different from those in many of Monet’s other works. He used a lot of reds and oranges in Impression, Sunrise, whereas most of his paintings that I’m familiar with have more greens, purples, and blues.

I was also interested to see Houses of Parliament, which Monet had created during his self-imposed exile during the Franco-Prussian War. My favorite aspect of the painting is the water because it really does look wet. Monet painted it with thick strokes the paint looks like it must still be wet to the touch. I also love how real the sunlight streaming through the clouds seems.

Of course I also appreciated seeing Rouen Cathedral, Façade (Sunset), but I was disappointed to see that it was the only one of the series displayed. Monet repeatedly painted the façade of Rouen Cathedral so that he could depict it in all kinds of light. From what I’ve read, it sounds like the paintings are interesting individually, but fascinating all together.

I also recently found out that most of these paintings, including Impression, Sunrise, were stolen in the mid 1980s and were only returned in 1990. They had been found in Italy based on a tip from someone who had been asked to buy them. I really have to wonder why someone would steal those paintings. They’re so well known that it would be practically impossible to find a buyer for them. Maybe the thief just did it for the love of art. It certainly does seem more romantic that way.

Unfortunately, pictures weren't allowed in the Monet exhibit, so these are a few from online.

Musée de l'Orangerie

Of all the Monet sites I’ve been to at this point, I still see the Musée de l’Orangerie, the first one I visited, as my favorite. I went to the museum as part of a walk with Rebecca, Courtney, and Rich, and I was thrilled to see Monet’s works for the first time. It was a quiet, rainy Saturday, and I was able to spend nearly half an hour ambling along the walls, taking in his Nymphéas or Water Lilies.

I’m not sure what it is about these paintings that makes me love them so much. Maybe it’s their monumental scale: they’re absolutely huge, taking up entire walls in a specially designed gallery. This means that the brushstrokes are broad and the details are large. You can go right up to the painting and see the thick globs of paint left by Monet himself. Maybe that’s what it is about the Water Lilies: they let you see right into Monet’s soul more than any of his other paintings.

Monet created hundreds of water lily paintings toward the end of his life. He spent his last thirty years in his beautiful house and gardens at Giverny, and there the flowers on his backyard pond became his favorite subjects. He wrote to a friend, “These landscapes of water and reflections have become an obsession.” At that point he was well into his old age, and he was rapidly losing his eyesight to cataracts. This would explain the larger scale and brushstrokes of the water lilies. Monet had to create bigger paintings to be able to see properly, and he used his whole body to paint rather than just his wrists.

The water lilies also seem to express the peace and repose Monet searched for in his later years. Life treated him harshly at the end. In addition to his physical problems, he also suffered from the death of his wife, the insanity and eventual death of his first son, and the military service of his second son in World War I. In honor of his son and those who lost their lives during the war, he promised to create a special series of paintings for the French State. When old age interfered, he confessed to his friend Georges Clemenceau, the Prime Minister, that he did not believe he could continue. Clemenceau had little pity for the artist, telling him, “I don’t care how old, how exhausted you are and whether you are an artist or not, you have no right to break your word of honour, especially when it was given to France.” After undergoing eye surgery, Monet was able to keep his promise and finish the paintings, and they were placed on display at the Orangerie. Today they can be seen even more beautifully, thanks to a recent remodel of the museum allowing natural light in.

Since the Water Lilies are often described as being “lyrical,” I was interested to learn that my favorite painter inspired my favorite composer, Claude Debussy. I can see in Monet’s work what I hear in Debussy’s: peace, reflection, repose – the natural, beautiful antithesis of the insanity of war. Even Disney seems to have taken a cue from Monet in their interpretation of Clair de Lune, but I prefer the classic piano version.