Impressionism and Impressionist Artists in Normandy

Mary Towsey outside Galerie 60, Giverny.

Besides Monet’s house and garden and the Musée de Impressionismes, there are at least six other galleries in Giverny that display contemporary art. Some of these are dedicated to the work of one artist, others have a rolling programme of exhibitions throughout the season. So if you are visiting Giverny for the day or even staying in or near Giverny overnight there really is a lot to do. [Read more →]

“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” Claude Monet.

The other day guests staying in my Normandy Bed & Breakfast returned from a day trip to Giverny. Even though they were keen gardeners themselves, they were quite overwhelmed by the numerous displays of tulips in Monet’s Garden and the gardens of the Musée des Impressionismes. This was all the excuse I needed to have a day trip of my own. It will come as no surprise that the various gardens in Giverny look spectacular all year round, and Giverny in spring is no different. So, here are a few photographs for MGN readers to enjoy. [Read more →]

The Tim Rogers Band perform at ‘Starry Nights’, an evening event hosted by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra during the ‘Masterpieces from Paris’ exhibition – visit the NGA’s Facebook or Flickr pages for more of their photographs. @National Gallery of Australia

On Sunday evening, 5 pm local time, the doors finally closed at Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia on the ‘Masterpieces from Paris‘ exhibition. By all accounts, the exhibition closed on an incredible high for the Gallery. [Read more →]

The Grand Palais in Paris will host a major exhibition of Claude Monet’s art from September 22, 2010 to January 24, 2011.

The first major exhibition of Claude Monet’s work in over 30 years will take place at the Grand Palais in Paris from September 22, 2010 to January 24, 2011. It has been reported that there will be over 200 paintings on display from both French and foreign museums. [Read more →]

“Reading Claude & Camille is like inhabiting an Impressionist painting filled with luscious, tactile imagery. But in this novel of passion and heartbreak, Stephanie Cowell never forgets the emotional price exacted by such vivid, trembling beauty.” Lauren Belfer, Author of City of Light.

Yesterday, Stephanie Cowell’s new novel, Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet, was published by the prestigious New York publishers Crown. And today, a review copy arrived in Normandy, chez moi! I can not wait to get on with it. As soon as I have completed the novel I shall post a review here, and Stephanie Cowell has kindly agreed to a ‘Question and Answer’ post – so if any of you MGN readers have a question for Stephanie, please post it here and I shall be sure to include it. [Read more →]

Claude Monet. The Church at Vétheuil. 1878. Oil on canvas. 65 cm x 56 cm. © National Galleries of Scotland.

In 1878, Claude Monet moved his family to Vétheuil, a small village on the Seine River to the west of Paris. When they moved to the village, Monet’s wife Camille was already seriously ill, and she was to die there the following year. Camille Doncieux is buried in the old cemetery in Vétheuil. Monet stayed on in the town until 1881. While there he painted over a hundred canvases of the village, the Seine and the Church. These paintings are now spread all over the world, such as the one above which is now in Scotland.

Monet painted the Romanesque church in Vétheuil quite frequently. He was not attracted to its appearance or anything particular about its architecture, but rather the effects of light on its façade at different times of the day, at different times of the year. Monet would return to the painting of ecclesiastical façades, in particular the Rouen Cathedral, in the 1890s.

If you fancy renting a holiday home in Vétheuil, you are in luck – the house to the right of this scene is available on a weekly basis in Spring and Summer, click here for more details: Holiday Rental Accommodation, Vétheuil. This would be a perfect base to visit Giverny and Paris.

Claude Monet. The church of Varengeville, effect of morning. 1882. Oil on canvas. 60 cm x 73 cm. Private Collection.

Of all the 90 or so paintings Claude Monet is said to have done while staying in Pourville during the winter and again in the summer of 1882, my favourite is definitely The Church of Varengeville, Effect of Morning (above). For me, it is one of those paintings that so epitomises the impressionist project, from the manner in which it was created to the finished product’s title, ‘the effect of morning’. [Read more →]

Claude Monet. The Japanese Footbridge [Le Pont japonais]. c. 1920–22. Oil on canvas. 89.5 cm x 116.3 cm. © The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Grace Rainey Rogers Fund.

Review of ‘Monet’s Water Lilies’ at MoMA, New York

It took me a long time to get down to the much-loved exhibit of six of Monet’s late garden paintings, created in his 70s and 80s at Giverny. Fortunately, though the one large exhibit room was crowded, one could still spend some time with the paintings which I did. [Read more →]

Claude Monet, Plage de Pourville, 1882. Oil on canvas (60 X 73 cm). © National Museum in Poznań, Poland.

Writing about the recovery of Poland’s only Monet painting, The Beach at Pourville (Plage de Pourville), recently got me doing more research on his time on the Normandy coast. Most people, with even the slightest interest in Monet’s work, are aware of his house and gardens in Giverny and that he made a few paintings along the Normandy coast. But the time Monet spent on the Normandy coast over a period of 7 years produced a group of paintings that far outnumber all others. And one of his more prolific years was 1882 when he spent a few months at Pourville in Winter, and then returned there later with his family in the summer. [Read more →]

Claude Monet. London, Parliament: sun through the fog
[Londres, le Parlement: trouée de soleil dans le brouillard]. 1904. Oil on canvas 81 cm x 92 cm. © Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

I recently visited Canberra and went to the National Gallery of Australia to see the Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond exhibition that is on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. This exhibition has attracted record-breaking attendances for an exhibition in that Gallery (it now stands in excess of 250,000 attendees). After Canberra the exhibition tours to Tokyo and San Francisco before returning to Paris. [Read more →]