Claude Monet
Claude Monet
France 1840-1926
Monet to Matisse: French Moderns
June 8–September 15 PAM
In relation to the new exhibitions at PAM, the class art project was inspired by Monet.
In 1893, Claude Monet, pioneering Impressionist artist and avid horticulturist, acquired a plot of land with a pond near his Giverny home. His vision was to create a space that would delight the eye and serve as inspiration for his art. The result was his "Masterpiece", the renowned waterlily garden, which would go on to inspire nearly 300 paintings, more than 40 of them in a large format. Three years after establishing himself in Giverny, Monet began transforming the marshland behind his house into a pond, complete with a Japanese-style wooden bridge. He meticulously curated a mix of exotic and native plants, including his beloved water lilies. This garden would become a primary subject for the remainder of his life. One of the most captivating aspects he captured was the interplay of the lilies with their reflections on the pond's surface, as seen in his "Water Lily Pond" series.
At the age of 74, Monet experienced a profound loss with the death of his son, and he found solace in his art and a renewed desire to create something grand. His "Water Lilies" series, which he worked on from the late 1890s until his death in 1926, became an all-consuming project. Even during the war, Monet persisted in his work, alternating between painting out of doors, and in his expansive studio. On November 12, 1918, the day after the Armistice, Monet wrote to his friend Georges Clemenceau, expressing his desire to create a" monument to peace". This vision culminated in the magnificent panels he donated to the French state in 1922, now on display at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.
Initially, the public did not warmly receive Monet's "Water Lilies" series. The rooms at the Orangerie remained largely unvisited for several decades. In 1952, André Masson likened the Orangerie to "the Sistine Chapel of Impressionism." Private collectors and museums began acquiring the remaining paintings from Monet's studio. Ultimately, Monet's work was a precursor to a new era in contemporary art, its influence felt long after his time.
" I am on the verge of finishing two decorative panels which I want to sign on Victory Day, to give the nation a real Monument to Peace."
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Many of the artists we studied in class are featured in these two major exhibitions that opened this week at PAM. I hope that your families will have a chance to attend over the summer.
Portland Art Museum
Monet to Matisse: French Moderns
June 8–September 15
The exhibition features, Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Jean-François Millet, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Odilon Redon, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin, and more.
Pissarro to Picasso
In addition to the Monet to Matisse: French Moderns exhibition, works from the Kirkland collection will feature artists including Claude Monet, Chaïm Soutine, Camille Pissarro, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Marc Chagall.
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Inspired by Monet's Waterlily Series, the class did their own version using a combination of paint sticks and oil pastels. Their pieces encompassed many of the lessons that we did over the past few months, including Impressionism, landscapes, reflections on water, perspective, and others.
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