“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece!”
By the mid 1880’s, when Claude Monet settled in Giverny, he was known for his beautiful, colorful paintings depicting light, color and atmosphere – as well as being one of the founding members of the group that became known as the Impressionists. Giverny – a small town 50 miles outside of Paris – quickly became both a retreat and an obsession during the 43 years he lived there, his gardens occupying a great deal of his time. In his words, he designed the gardens “both for the pleasure of the eye and for the purpose of having subjects to paint” and they’ve maintained that effect until this day!
Monet had a bridge built over the pond `in Japanese taste’ resulting in his first paintings of the water-garden in a series done in 1899-1900, and gave prominence to the bridge with water-lilies beneath and weeping willows. These pictures formed a quiet beginning to what was to become an increasingly exciting enterprise, culminating in his gift to France post WWI – the Grand Decorations now installed at the Museum de l’Orangerie in Paris.
Please join art educator, Laura Nichols, and explore the development – in design and in paint – of Claude Monet’s Masterpiece, Giverny.
