Monet on his footbridge (to the right), New York Times, 1922

There are so many wonderful features in Claude Monet’s Giverny garden, which does, at least in part, account for its enduring appeal. Given that French Impressionism and Monet in particular is widely thought to be the most popular genre of art, we are all ‘familiar’ with the garden before we even get there. These different features were each created by Monet, and then repeatedly painted on canvasses that are now well known, and in galleries and collections around the World. One of those features I never tire of seeing is the Japanese footbridge. Although a simple structure, it is a very striking one – flanked by willows and covered in wisteria.

Monet had the foot bridge constructed in the second half of 1893, shortly after he was given permission to do so on 24 July 1893. With his passion for all things Japanese, it is not surprising he chose such a style for the footbridge over his water lily pond. Julie Manet (Edouard Manet’s niece) visited Giverny on 30 October, and noted in her diary for that day that a ‘Japanese looking’ bridge spans the pond. Monet employed local craftsmen for the bridge, but when the gardens were restored in the late 1970s the footbridge had to be replaced.

Claude Monet. 1899. Waterlily pond, green harmony [Le bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie verte]. Oil on canvas 89 cm x 93.5 cm. © Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

As with all his other favoured subjects, Monet painted the footbridge frequently from the mid 1890s on in to the 1920s. Above, is a painting made in 1899, while that below was done in 1918-24 – and is typical of his later paintings, a character some ascribe to his failing eyesight.

Claude Monet. 1918-24. Le pont japonaise. Oil on canvas 89 cm x 116 cm. © Musée Marmottan, Paris.

I am fortunate to be able to visit Monets’ house and gardens frequently, throughout the year – although spring is certainly my favourite time of year. The footbridge changes quite dramatically over the year. In early spring it is all but bare, with an entirely leafless wisteria. As the seasons change and the wisteria comes to life, so too the bridge takes on a different appearance.

Below are a few of my photographs of the bridge, my very own Japanese Bridge series if you like – I have arranged them in order by the month in which each was taken (which ends up as reverse year order), so that you can see how the bridge changes with the seasons. Click on one of the photographs and a larger image will appear in ‘screenbox’, then move your mouse over the image and you will see where to click for the next photograph and the previous one.

Early spring, 2011

A ‘close up’ of the photograph above showing the flowers on the left bank of the pond, April 2011

The Japanese Bridge itself, towards the end of April 2010, you can see the wisteria is about to come into bloom

Taken in the early evening, when the gardens were open for “Nuits des Musées”, mid May 2011

The water lily pond taken from the opposite side of the pond to the bridge, July 2009

The bridge from the left hand side of the water lily pond, July 2009

The Japanese Bridge in summer, July 2009, there can be a queue then to get your photograph take on the Bridge

On show in Auckland, New Zealand, during the first half of 2012 is an amazing collection of masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland. In all 79 of some of the finest paintings, sculptures and prints by 62 different artists, representing ground breaking developments in the story of Western art over the last hundred or so years, have travelled around the World to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. And included in this exhibition, entitled Degas to Dalí, are some remarkable examples of French impressionism. These impressionists take their rightful place in an exhibition that begins in the 1860s with realism, and leads the visitor from one major art movement to the next ending in the mid twentieth century with pop art and op art.

The impressionists are well represented in the line up, with some trusted favourites such as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro (see bellow) and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is good to see that Louis-Eugene Boudin, one of the lessor known French impressionists but no less interesting in my view, features with his painting of the port of Bordeaux (see above). Georges Seurat, normally associated with post-impressionism, is situated firmly in the impressionist camp here with his wonderful, small (only 15.90cm x 25.00 cm) oil sketch of a man bathing a horse in the Seine River. This is one of the thirteen sketches Seurat created in preparation for his more well known painting in London’s National Gallery, ‘The Bathers, Asnières’. Interestingly, there are nine works by Edgar Degas, including bronzes, pastel and pencil drawings as well as a few paintings – some of which reveal his fascination for dancers.

But this group of impressionist works are only part of a story, from Degas to Dalí. The various works are set out chronologically, so it is quite clear to see the development of artistic traditions in the West over the 100 or so years presented in the show. Not only are the developing artistic conventions clearly illustrated by the works on display, but these particular pieces also bear witness to changing social and political times from the mid nineteenth century to the mid twentieth century. Artists from Europe and the UK dominate the collection, but there are works form Japan and the US included.

The Degas to Dalí exhibition, the first major show at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki since their re-development was completed last year, and runs from 3 March to 10 June 2012. A catalogue has produced to accompany the exhibition, but at this stage this appears to be available only at the gallery shop. According to the gallery’s website, the exhibition will not be on show anywhere else. Sadly then, if you do not live in New Zealand there is no point waiting, so you might as well book a holiday in Auckland!

Camille Pissarro, 1874, Kitchen Gardens at L’Hermitage, Pontoise. Oil on canvas, 54 cm x 65.10 cm. © National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh – another impressionist painting in the Degas to Dalí exhibition, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand.

A number of art museums are either in the process of refurbishing their galleries or have just re-opened newly renovated galleries, and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England is one. In November last year Gallery 5, one of their more popular galleries, re-opened after an extensive make-over. This is the Fitzwilliams’ French Impressionists and other late 19th and early 20th century permanent exhibition.

The newly refurbished Impressionist gallery follows is the latest in a series of other recently renovated art and archaeology galleries, including the Egyptian gallery, the 19th and 20th century British Art gallery and the Classical Greece and Rome gallery. Besides enhanced display techniques that allow visitors to better appreciate these wonderful works of art, the display includes more detailed information about the history of Impressionism, and also how these specific paintings came to be in the Museum’s collection.

When the Impressionists were curating their own exhibitions in Paris, exhibitions that challenged every aspect of the art establishment, one of the things they did was to hang their paintings on backgrounds that were bold and striking in colour. And, they would even use several different colours within a single exhibition. Not only were they doing something radical with what they painted and the techniques they used, but they followed through with their radical approach to also include how their paintings were experienced. And now, over a century later art galleries around the world are returning to these ideas. At the Fitzwilliam, the paintings have now been hung on dramatic dark blue-grey walls.

Jane Munro, the curator of the Impressionist gallery says,

“It is wonderful to be able to redisplay their works in an appropriately vibrant setting that allows their innovative, light-infused paintings to be seen and understood as never before in the museum.”

The Fitzwilliam Museum, situated in the heart of Cambridge, has one of the finest collections of French Impressionist paintings. The artists represented in the collection include Claude Monet (see above), Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro (see below), Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley and Pierre Auguste Renoir. So visitors to the museum will not be disappointed! Have you been, what did you think? Leave us a comment below.

Camille Pissarro, 1895, Effet de neige a Erangy, avec un pommier. Oil on canvas, 38.2 x 46.2 cm. © The Fitzwilliam

Fancy a unique, all inclusive three day break in Normandy, visiting Claude Monet’s house and garden in Giverny as well as Pissarro’s house in Eragny-sur-Epte, and a chauffeured day trip along the Normandy coast where both Monet and Pissarro painted, including Etretat?

Read about the 3 day break on my Basse Copette website

The Porte d’Aval at Etretat, the inspiration for Monet’s painting above.

Having only just started 2012, you might feel it is just a bit too soon to be contemplating 2013. Of course, tourist authorities and organisations are planning that far ahead – at least we hope they are! But, there are also tourists who are already thinking, no matter how tentatively, about where they might visit in 2013. So, for my readers who need an incentive for a trip to France in 2013, here is some welcome Impressionism-related news just for you.

My regular, long-standing readers will remember that in the summer of 2010 Normandy hosted its first ever Impressionist Festival; some even visited a few of the many events staged during the five month Impressionist spectacle. There were over 100 events, including numerous exhibitions, musical and theatrical performances as well as many festivities and celebrations of all things Impressionism, and Normandy – the birthplace of Impressionism. There were also events specifically for children. It truly was a wonderful summer if French Impressionism is your passion, with over one million recorded visitors to the museums in Normandy. Here is the programme of events for Normandie Impressionniste 2010. And, for a few of the articles I wrote then, follow this link.

If you missed the festival in 2010, or if you are planning a trip to Normandy in 2013, you are in luck, the organisers of the 2010 festival are now planning Normandie Impressionniste 2013. With a budget of over 5 million Euros, the organisers are planning a bigger and better festival, around the general theme of water.

The deadline for proposals for associated events has only just passed so it is a bit early for a programme. As with the previous festival, however, major exhibitions are being planned in Rouen, Caen and Le Havre. The Musée des Beaux Arts in Rouen, for example, is planning an exhibition provisionally entitled, in keeping with the festival theme, “La couleur réfléchie, l’impressionnisme à la surface de l’eau”. And the art gallery of the seaside town of Fécamp is planning a promising exhibition of paintings by Monet and others of the cliffs along the Normandy coast. But as Pissaro is my favourite Impressionist artist I am looking forward to the exhibition planned for the Musée Malraux de Havre, “Pissaro au fil de la Seine” – with over sixty paintings that follow the River Seine from Paris to Le Havre.

As before the festival brings together the various cultural institutions in both Upper and Lower Normandy. The exhibition in Caen will focus on one of the seaside favourite themes of bathers, and an exciting exhibition on Dior and Impressionism will be on show in Granville – Christian Dior’s hometown.

What impressed me most about the various exhibitions I saw during the 2010 festival was the number of paintings included in the various galleries. The shear number alone was impressive, but the actual examples were brought back to Normandy from far and wide. The national organisation RNM, Reunion des Musées Nationaux, will be coordinating both national and international loans to these exhibitions, so we can be confident of some truly wonderful exhibitions again.

Besides the blockbuster exhibitions, and some more modest ones, there will also be a range of related festivities and celebrations. The organisers have promised us “un rêve” (a dream), you have been forewarned. I shall post updates as soon as they are available.

Ce seront vraiment de très très belles expositions que vous pourrez voir! Erik Orsenna, head of the organising committee.

Will this beautiful painting make a return visit to Normandy in 2013? Camille Pissarro, View of Rouen, 1898, oil on canvas. © Honolulu Academy of Arts

Seeing Colors: Secrets of the Impressionists is coming to the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Virginia on October 22nd, 2011.

Featuring forty paintings including two by Monet, three by Pissarro, two by Boudin, a beautiful Bazille landscape based on a Monet sketch, two by Renior, and others, students enrolled in the museum seminar at The College of William & Mary have a rare and exceptional opportunity to work behind the scenes of this major exhibition. The class changes everyday so students never know exactly what to expect – a day in Professor John Spike’s class ranges from monographic lectures on the artists in the show, to talks from the Museum Director Dr. Aaron De Groft, to hands on work towards the hanging of the show. During the first week of class students chose their specific task teams including tour guides and docent training, public relations, creating education material, writing painting labels, and even putting together a musical tour to accompany the show, and they have been hard at work ever since.

The exhibition is on until 22 January 2012. For more information on what students are up to, countdown to the opening with the class blog.

Just a few days ago it was revealed that the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was selling eight impressionist paintings to raise money to pay for a painting by Gustave Caillebotte. Man at His Bath, painted by Caillebotte in 1884, is widely recognised to be one of the artist’s finest pieces. The painting is the first impressionist nude in the museum’s permanent collection. But this decision of the MFA’s has vexed a few art bloggers and critics. Not everyone is happy that eight impressionist pieces have been sold for a painting of what Scot Lehigh of the Boston Globe says “is not an eye-catching celebration of the human form, a la Michelangelo’s ‘David.’ Rather, it’s an everyday view of … well, mostly of an everyday butt.”

I can not help but think Lehigh is missing a point or two. That anyone should suggest in a critical manner that Caillebotte’s painting is ‘mundane’ or ‘everyday’ has surely forgotten that that is just what the French impressionists were trying to achieve, they were rebelling against the establishment and often painted the mundane aspects of everyday life that had been rejected until then. Also, the impressionists were not interested in representing the body in its finest form ‘a la Michelangelo’ – that is just what they were fighting against.

Lehigh suggests “It’s probably not worth selling scenes by Monet, Gauguin, Sisley, Pissarro, and Renoir to acquire that perfectly mundane scene.” George T.M. Shackelford, Chair, Art of Europe and Arthur K. Solomon Curator of Modern Art at the MFA, Boston, is a little more certain, “Adding a work like this one gives an indoor, urban accent to a collection that is dominated by the sun-drenched pastoral art of Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. With Man at His Bath, building on great strengths in the work of Manet and Degas, we’ve added another icon to the collection.” I am therefore not that convinced Caillebotte’s nude is an unworthy addition to the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

But Tyler Green, an art blogger at ArtInfo, does raise an interesting point. He contrasts the MFA’s selling off at once the eight paintings with deaccesion strategies at other institutions such as the Hirshhorn, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art who have been steadily deaccesioning items from their permanent collections over the years. Green suggests the latter strategy allows for a less desperate approach to replacing existing items in a collection for something new.

The following are the eight paintings that have been sold by the MFA to raise funds to acquire the Caillebotte’s painting of some bloke’s butt:

• Maxime Camille Louis Maufra, Gust of Wind, 1899
• Claude Monet, The Fort of Antibes, 1888
• Camille Pissarro, View from the Artist’s Window, Eragny, 1885
• Paul Gauguin, Forest Interior (Sous-Bois), 1884
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Bust Portrait of a Young Woman, c1890
• Alfred Sisley, Overcast Day at Saint-Mammes, c1880
• Alfred Sisley, Saint-Mammes: Morning (Le Matin), 1881
• Vasily Vereshchagin, Pearl Mosque Delhi, c1880-90




I can not help but wonder if the fuss was over the acquisition of a full frontal nude of some buxom blonde would we have the same reaction? Of course we can not know that now. But I am am sure Gustave Caillebotte would have been amused with the fuss. Caillebotte was himself a collector of art, and owned paintings by a few of the artists the Museum of Fine Arts is now parting with for cash.

The problem is that some people see museum collections as set in stone, and I do not agree with such a premise. Collections are not finite and their curators strive to improve them. We all accept that museums do their best to acquire new pieces, as they become available and if they have funds. Other pieces are bequeathed to museums, given on ‘permanent’ loan. When these new pieces enter the collection, they do not ‘violate’ the existing collection, they add to it in some way – or so the curator hopes. But the same applies to getting rid of a few pieces, deaccesion is the correct term but it amounts to the same thing. If a curator decides to sell of a few pieces in an attempt to improve the collection, that should be as welcome as a curator who tried to add to a collection.

Personally, I would not give either of the two bland Sisley riverscapes wall space, but then I would not give up the Pissarro for anything. I am not a fan of Sisley, but after all the grand French impressionism exhibitions in France last year, I have a deep appreciation for Pisarro’s work above all the others.

Gustave Caillebotte’s almost life size painting Man and His Bath can be seen in the upcoming ‘Degas and the Nude’ exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (9 October 2011 – 5 February 2012). The exhibition travels to Paris, where the painting will be on view in the Musée d’Orsay from 12 March to 1 July, 2012. This is the second painting by Caillebotte in the museum’s collection, the other being Fruit Displayed on a Stand (c 1881–82), purchased in 1979.



About to be auctioned by Sotheby’s, in their 2 November sale.
Camille Pisarro, View from the Artist’s Window, Eragny, 1885. Oil on Canvas 54.5 cm x 65.1 cm. © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

]]> http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/caillebotte-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/feed/ 0 http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/nuits-des-musees-may-2011/ http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/nuits-des-musees-may-2011/#comments Sun, 15 May 2011 13:51:33 +0000 Thomas http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/?p=1370

Having only ever visited Monet’s Giverny garden in the morning or midday, I have often wondered what walking through the garden must be like around dusk or even during night. Beautiful gardens are every bit as interesting during the night as they are in bright sunlight – long shadows and even darkness add all sorts of other qualities and experiences. As last night was the the now annual Nuits des Musées, and Monet’s garden was staying open until 9 pm – yesterday afternoon I could not resist a visit to Giverny.

The Night of Museums is a European-wide initiative in which museums and other heritage sites keep their public spaces and exhibitions open later than usual on the Saturday night of the weekend before International Museum Day (18 May). Many of the larger institutions organise other events as well, including special lectures and guided tours, children’s activities and even ‘sleepovers’. In France entry to museums on this evening is free, usually after a certain time. At Monet’s house and gardens and the Musée des Impressionismes in Giverny, free entry was granted after 6 pm until 9 pm for the gardens and 10 pm for the museum.

I thought there would be crowds of people – what with the promise of free entry and a chance to see the gardens at dusk. But, there was hardly anyone else there. After a wonderfully sunny day it was a glorious spring evening with a bright blue sky. The colours of the flowers are now mostly purples, blues and whites – and in the early evening as the shadows lengthened across the gardens it really did look quite magical. Some of the flowers seemed as if they were radiating their own light. And, something I had never thought of or particularly noticed on any previous visit to Monet’s Garden was the birdsong. But last night the birdsong was a wonderful accompaniment to the colours in the warm light of dusk. The idea of a sleepover in Monet’s garden (his bed looks a bit lumpy – I would give that a miss) is very appealing.

(Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image.)



For anyone thinking of a May visit to Giverny, and I would strongly recommend a visit then, if you can be there for the Nuits des Musées weekend do consider planning your visit to the gardens then – you will not be disappointed. There is always an excellent temporary exhibition on at the Musée des Impressionismes, so go there first and then head along the road to Monet’s house and gardens before it shuts. The museum also has a very good restaurant, as do a number of the hotels in Giverny.

And of course, I offer B&B and self catering accommodation at Basse Copette.



]]> http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/nuits-des-musees-may-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/review-of-monets-passion-by-elizabeth-murray/ http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/review-of-monets-passion-by-elizabeth-murray/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:06:46 +0000 Thomas http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/?p=1052
“The first month at Giverny was quite challenging, spent proving myself to M. Vahé, the head gardener, and the seven other male gardeners. None of them could understand why an American woman would want to work so hard for free. But my love and enthusiasm for the garden and Monet grew as each new plant came into blossom.” Elizabeth Murray.

Before I received my copy of Monet’s Passion by Elizabeth Murray, I knew this was going to be a beautiful volume. When I opened the packaging I was overwhelmed by the book’s beauty: the rich feel of the jacket, the amazingly rich photographs that seem to have captured every aspect of Monets’ garden, and the exquisite transparent overlays with pen and ink sketches. Having written a few books about prehistoric art myself I am all to aware of the issues involved in publishing high quality art books at reasonable prices. This latest edition of Monet’s Passion, published in 2010 to celebrate its 20th anniversary, really and truly is a snip at only $35.

But, let me not give the impression that Monet’s Passion is nothing more than a superbly produced coffee-table, picture book. For that would be wrong. The subtitle accurately sums up what lies behind this book and the wonderful images it contains: ideas, inspiration and insights. Elizabeth Murray explores the history and conceptual development of Monet’s garden from the artist’s time there, what he was creating and how, to the present Giverny, where the garden is one of France’s most visited attractions, and beyond Giverny, where today gardener’s of all capabilities seek to draw on Monet’s inspiration where ever they live.

Elizabeth Murray, a professional gardener and artist, gave up what she was doing in the US and volunteered her gardening skills for the restoration of Monet’s garden. In return she was offered an apartment and a food allowance. And for nine months she worked alongside the French gardening team, working five days a week from 8 am to 5 pm. For these efforts in bringing this wonderful part of France’s heritage back to life, Murray now has privileged access to the gardens and so she is in an authoritative position to be writing about the themes covered in this book for she has experienced the inspiration of Monet’s garden all year round. I only ever visit the gardens when they are open to the public, so from the beginning of April to the end of October, but I am always truly amazed how different the gardens are throughout these seven months, how there is always something different to take in. And this is a quality of the garden that Murray has captured in both her photographs and her writing.

Besides seemingly exploring every inter-twining aspect of Monet’s skills as a gardener, horticulturist and colourist, his love of flowers, colour and light, and how these are manifested in the ground and on the canvas, a substantial part of the book is about ‘Bringing Giverny Home’. This is not a ‘How to Recreate Giverny in Your Backyard’ manual, but rather an experiential approach to creating your own inspirational garden using some of the principles Monet used in creating his garden, the same principles his restorers rediscovered during their restoration work.

This book is a must have, and read, for anyone who has ever contemplated the many paintings Monet produced of his gardens, but particularly those of his gardens at Giverny which he did more to create than anywhere else, and for anyone who has visited Monet’s gardens in Giverny and felt inspired by them.

Monet’s Passion has justifiably been lavishly produced. There are 140 pages and over 75 colour photographs, there are also colour garden plans, transparent overlays with masterful pen and in sketches providing extra detail, and a number of historical photographs. The Smyth-sewn casebound book is 8 ¾ by 8 ¾ inches, with a ribbon marker and quality jacket. Monet’s Passion is published by Pomegranate Communications, Petaluma, CA, and is available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.


Elizabeth Murray, professional gardener and artist, in front of Monet’s house, Giverny.

At Basse Copette, I offer 5-night, all-inclusive tour of Monet’s Normandy that include a trip to Giverny. For all reservations for this tour, I include a complimentary copy of Monet’s Passion (posted in advance of your tour). Click here, for further details, costs and booking information.

]]> http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/review-of-monets-passion-by-elizabeth-murray/feed/ 3 http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/review-monet-on-the-normandy-coast-by-robert-l-herbert/ http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/review-monet-on-the-normandy-coast-by-robert-l-herbert/#comments Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:42:09 +0000 Thomas http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/?p=1420
“This book began with a simple observation I made when I first visited Etretat. I was there to see if I might learn something by standing on the same spots from which Monet made his pictures.” Robert L. Herbert

When I moved to Normandy in 2005 of course as a long-time fan of the French Impressionists I was delighted to be living so close to Claude Monet’s famous house and garden in Giverny. What I did not fully appreciate is that I was also within a stone’s throw of the very coastline of which he produced numerous paintings. When thinking of Monet’s paintings most people immediately recollect the poppies and water lilies, but the dramatic chalky cliffs of the Normandy coast are also well known and every bit as striking. And, it was getting a copy of Robert Herbert’s book that inspired me to follow in the footsteps of both Herbert and the Impressionist artists before him along the Normandy coast.

As is clear from the quote above, Herbert wanted to see if a greater appreciation and understanding of Monet’s paintings of the Normandy coastline could be gained by seeing the sites from where the artist actually painted them. Obviously there were many changes between the time that Monet was painting in the closing decades of the nineteenth century and when towards the end of the twentieth century Herbert visited the area. But as the author demonstrates, and as is clear to anyone visiting still today, it is possible to get to what must be the exact spot where Monet stood and see what he saw and reproduced on canvass.

Claude Monet was a frequent visitor to the area over a number of years, and he often stayed for months at a time. His family even accompanied him on holiday to the fishing towns he painted. It was his brother Léon who introduced Monet to the fishing village of Les Petites Dalles in 1880, just south of Dieppe. Although this was a (relatively) brief trip for Monet, only two weeks, it was the first of seven visits in consecutive years, during which time he painted at numerous locations along the coastline from Pourville to Etretat. This group of paintings is the largest of all his subjects.

We often think of Monet as an artist who painted what he saw. But not only did the artists exclude certain elements (the hum drum nature of seaside, fishing village life for example), he only saw certain features on the landscape – and he painted these repeatedly. Herbert demonstrates in this beautifully illustrated book that this selection of themes was much like the way in which tourists experienced the Normandy coast, and that experience was being dictated by the many artists who came before Monet – such as Gustave Courbet who also painted at Etretat. Like the many tourists who were led to the many picturesque spots, so too was Monet. He painted a landscape that had already been created by text and image of writers and artists before him.

This is not a guide book to the various spots between Dieppe and Le Havre that Monet painted, rather it is an interesting social history of those spots, explaining why Monet chose them and what it was he did to make them his own. Monet was not just painting picturesque landscapes, he was contributing greatly to the continued construction of a tourist landscape. Monet’s paintings of the Normandy coast are now scattered in museums and art galleries all around the World. Many people will already have an image of this region based on seeing this paintings in their current settings, many of course will never see the real thing, whichever you are – if you wish to read a fascinating and engaging account of Monet’s work here, this is definitely the book to read.


Looking north at the needle and Porte d’Aval at Etretat, the subject for the cover image of Robert Herbert’s book.

For anyone who wants to see for themselves how Monet constructed his landscapes, I offer guided tours of the sites that Monet painted, and not just along the coastline from Dieppe to Le Havre. You can read my article, Following in Monet’s Footsteps on the Normandy Coast, and/or follow the links in the top right of the webpage.

Get your copy:
Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867 – 1886 by Robert L. Herbert was published by Yale University Press in 1994 and is available in both hardcover and paperback. There are 168 pages and over 140 illustrations, including colour and black and white photographs, as well as full colour reproductions of relevant paintings by Claude Monet and other related artists.

Herbert’s book is available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

]]> http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/review-monet-on-the-normandy-coast-by-robert-l-herbert/feed/ 0 http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/monet-grand-palais/ http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/monet-grand-palais/#comments Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:17:59 +0000 Thomas http://www.monet-giverny-normandy.com/?p=1043 Tickets for the Monet Exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris are no longer available online.

According to a spokesperson at the Grand Palais, there are no plans to make more tickets available online. You are able to buy tickets at the Grand Palais, and the queue for entry is between 1 and 2 hours long.

You can still purchase a copy of the Grand Palais Exhibition Catalogue online.

But remember that there is also another Monet exhibition on at the Musée Marmottan Monet, until 20 February 2010.

In my opinion, while the Monet exhibition at the Grand Palais should not be missed – the exhibition at the Marmottan is in fact a better exhibition. There may be more paintings on show in the Grand Palais, but there are a number of significant paintings not on show that are important canvasses in the development of Monet’s style and contribution to Impressionism.

This is also a temporary exhibition, and includes many other personal effects that belonged to the artist. The Musée Marmottan has the World’s largest collection of Monet paintings, not all of which are on permanent display. For this temporary exhibition, everything in the Museum’s collection is on display until February. It really should not be overlooked, the hype over the exhibition at the exhibition at the Grand Palais notwithstanding.

Read more about Monet at Musée Marmatton, Paris 2010 – 2011, and book your tickets on that page. You reserve a ticket for 10.45 and are allowed entry any time during the day.

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