We’re docked this morning at Vernon, a small town on the Seine, fifty miles downstream from Paris. Vernon was founded by Rollo in the 10th century. (Remember Rollo?) It was a defensive outpost on the French/Norman border, back in the day when the weapons of choice were swords and axes. We’re here because Vernon is close to Giverny, where the great impressionist painter, Claude Monet, made his home. Today we’re going to visit Giverny and Monet’s gardens.
An Interesting Guy
Claude Monet was an interesting guy. He was born in Paris in 1840, but he was raised in Le Havre. He knew at an early age that he wanted to be a painter. Studying under well-known painters in the area, he painted landscapes at Le Havre and the picturesque little harbor at Honfleur. (Remember Honfleur?) Then he moved to Paris to learn from the best artists of the day.
Monet was there when Renoir, Manet, and other great artists called Paris home. In the 1860’s, if painting was your thing, Paris was the place to be. Monet learned everything he could from the masters in Paris. He was good – good enough to not starve, but just barely.
In those days, a group of “experts” controlled the Parisian art market. They decided what was good and bad. No matter how skilled you might have been, if your work didn’t conform to their idea of “good,” your art wouldn’t be shown and it wouldn’t sell.
The elite board of experts expected painters to copy the techniques of the old masters to paint still lifes and portraits. But Monet, Renoir, and a few others had different ideas. These radicals wanted to go outside, paint outdoor scenes, and experiment with new techniques. They wanted to paint what they felt. They formed their own group and started showing their own brand of painting independently. Scandalous!
The Impressionists
In 1872, Monet painted a scene showing the port at his hometown of Le Havre at sunrise. He titled the painting, “Impression, Sunrise.” Art critics poopoo’d the work. They called the style “Impressionism.” They meant for it to be derogatory, but the group of renegade artists liked the term and made it their own. The Impressionist era was born.
As he matured as a painter, painting for Monet became all about the light. He liked to paint the same subject in different light and environmental conditions. For Monet, painting was no longer about the subject. It was about how the subject is affected by the light.
Monet studied the interaction of light and a subject. He painted Rouen Cathedral 30+ times to capture light reflecting off it’s façade at different times of the day. To do it, he had to set up multiple canvases and move from one to the next as the sun crossed the sky.
Monet became well-known for his series of paintings of a single subject under different conditions. His most famous series is probably “Haystacks.” He painted the same two haystacks 25 times, in different seasons and times of the day. Can you imagine the intensity required to even think of doing that? And then actually doing it?
The House and Gardens at Giverny
When Monet’s work finally caught on, he started to do well financially. He bought a large house and some property in Giverny, where he and his wife raised their seven children. He lived there the rest of his life.
It was here that Monet developed a passion for gardening. I had heard of “Monet’s Gardens.” Tourists can visit Giverny on a day-trip from Paris, so Monet’s Gardens have become a popular destination. I thought, “OK, Monet lived there and had a garden. That’s nice.” Little did I know…
We left the boat and went to Giverny with a guide who told us all about Monet. The area around Vernon and Giverny is beautiful. The grounds just outside of Monet’s Gardens are manicured to perfection. The whole scene was so perfect, it was almost surreal. Then, when we entered the garden itself, it truly was surreal.
Monet’s Gardens are better expressed through pictures than words, so I’ll let the camera do the talking.
As far as “old school” techniques and strict adherence to the rules of the day, Monet had this to say: “I like to paint as a bird sings.”
Yep. Claude Monet was an interesting guy, indeed.
To be continued…
