 |
| Rue Montorgueil with Flags (1886) by Claude Monet |
Showing posts with label monet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monet. Show all posts
The Monet family in their garden at Argenteuil by Manet
Monday with Edouard Manet!
In 1924, Monet recounted the circumstances of the day in his garden at
Argenteuil: "Manet, enthralled by the color and the light, undertook an
outdoor painting of figures under trees. During the sitting, Renoir
arrived. . . . He asked me for palette, brush and canvas, and there he
was, painting away alongside Manet. The latter was watching him out of
the corner of his eye. . . . Then he made a face, passed discreetly near
me, and whispered in my ear about Renoir: 'He has no talent, that boy!
Since you are his friend, tell him to give up painting!'"
Those crazy kids!
.jpg) |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, USA, 1874 |
From wikipaintings: By 1874
Manet came under the sway of Monet's approach to painting quickly, out
of doors. In the summer of that year, Manet stayed at his family's house
in Gennevilliers, just across the Seine from Monet in Argenteuil. The
Monet family was living in a house that Manet had helped them find the
year before.
This portrait of the Monet family—Camille Monet and Jean,
with Claude Monet gardening at the left—is one of Manet's most
significant essays in this new style.
While Manet painted the Monet
family, Renoir painted beside him and Monet worked nearby. Monet painted
Manet at his easel (present location unknown), while Renoir, like
Manet, painted Madame Monet, Jean Monet, and the rooster
(see below).
 |
| National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA, 1874 |
Those crazy kids!
A walk in the fields at Argenteuil by Monet
Art surprise Friday!
 |
| 1873, Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA |
Hyde Park, London by Monet
Art surprise Friday!
 |
| c. 1871, Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA |
The Seine near its Estuary, Honfleur by Monet
Art surprise Friday!
 |
| c. 1868, Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA |
The basin at Argenteuil by Claude Monet
Art surprise Friday!
 |
| 1874, Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA |
Letter from Paris 4 May
It was a lazy morning for the two of us — coffee and a light breakfast before heading out for the day. Our first objective was the Musée Marmottan Monet on the far western side of Paris in the 16th arr.
This time, the featured exhibition was the figure work of Jean-Baptiste Corot. We had seen quite a few examples of Corot’s works in museums in the US: Chicago the Clark, the Met in New York and the MFA in Boston to name just four. He was widely known in his own time as a premier landscape artist but this exhibition focused on his rarely seen portrait work. He never exhibited these pieces at the Salons in Paris and never sold them. They were, in a word, stunning.
The man had a genuine feel for the human condition.
And of course the museum's Monet collection is nothing less than remarkable.
Leaving the museum we made our way back to the Metro stop La Muette and had lunch at the nearby Tabac a la Muette. After lunch we decided to walk to our next destination, it was such a gorgeous day. So, we strolled over to the Trocadero, saw the Eiffel Tower and from there took a bus to the Parc Monceau where we hung out finding space on one of the few open benches to sit and take in the sun.
We then took the Metro home where we relaxed for an hour or so before heading over to the Louvre. On friday the museum is open late and we wanted to take the opportunity to skip the crowds — so we thought. It was easy to get in and buying tickets (no preplanning) was a breeze. Still, there were several hundred thousand people usually standing near where we were at any given time.
We made our way to the Delacroix exhibition which was nothing short of mesmerizing. Seeing his major works in such large scale for the time was awesome indeed.
We quickly made our way to the 19th century French room to see the Raft of the Medusa (1818-19) by Thédore Géricault. Along the way we also took in numerous works by some of France’s greatest artists, although in my mind few equalled Géricault. There I’ve said it.
Naturally, before we left we had to surf over to the Italian painting room and see the Mona Lisa although I rather enjoyed watching the people watching the Mona Lisa.
After leaving the Louvre we took the no. 7 Metro to Poissoniére and back to "Madame Messieurs" on rue de Meubeuge for dinner: burgers using knife and fork only thank you. It was then back on the Metro and home.
We had been to the Marmottan once before in 2016 to see their permanent Berthe Morisot collection and at that time they had a wonderful featured exhibition of the work of Marie Laurencin.
 |
| Morisot collection on the 2nd floor |
 |
| detail of Eugène Manet and his daughter Julie in the Garden, 1883 |
This time, the featured exhibition was the figure work of Jean-Baptiste Corot. We had seen quite a few examples of Corot’s works in museums in the US: Chicago the Clark, the Met in New York and the MFA in Boston to name just four. He was widely known in his own time as a premier landscape artist but this exhibition focused on his rarely seen portrait work. He never exhibited these pieces at the Salons in Paris and never sold them. They were, in a word, stunning.
The man had a genuine feel for the human condition.
 |
| The Blonde Gasconne Girl 1850 |
 |
| Promenade near Argenteuil, 1875 |
We then took the Metro home where we relaxed for an hour or so before heading over to the Louvre. On friday the museum is open late and we wanted to take the opportunity to skip the crowds — so we thought. It was easy to get in and buying tickets (no preplanning) was a breeze. Still, there were several hundred thousand people usually standing near where we were at any given time.
We made our way to the Delacroix exhibition which was nothing short of mesmerizing. Seeing his major works in such large scale for the time was awesome indeed.
 |
| Liberty leading the people 1830 |
Naturally, before we left we had to surf over to the Italian painting room and see the Mona Lisa although I rather enjoyed watching the people watching the Mona Lisa.
After leaving the Louvre we took the no. 7 Metro to Poissoniére and back to "Madame Messieurs" on rue de Meubeuge for dinner: burgers using knife and fork only thank you. It was then back on the Metro and home.
To Giverny 30 September
(photos follow below)
Today was our long-awaited day trip to Giverny. Susan had been there some years ago when she got caught in Paris after the volcano erupted in Iceland and had a few extra days to kill. She has been saying ever since that we needed to go there together — and with the exhibition of works by the Spanish impressionist Sorolla at the Impressionist Museum in Giverny - there was no time like the present.
Using the SNCF (French railway) website we purchased our train tickets online and were eager to see if we would be able to use the automatic kiosks at the railway station to print them out.
We walked up to Place Gambetta and took Metro line 3 to Saint-Lazare train station. Once inside the station we were confronted by a three levels of (mostly) shops and various train offices. Although caught up in half the population of Paris rushing every which way we eventually found our way to the “Grand lignes” ticket office where we learned much to our chagrin that we could NOT access our tickets using the kiosks. (The same problem was experienced by the MacDs in Lille when all of us went to Bruges.) While I stood in line for a ticket agent Susie buttonholed one of the information agents standing close by and even he couldn’t figure out why our chip-card wouldn’t work.
(The fine print on our ticket pointed out that credit cards with the magnetic stripe would NOT work at the kiosks. Go figure.)
After getting our tickets we had a short wait for the train to Vernon; Giverny is a few kilometers away and can only be accessed by bus, car, on foot or, as we were to experience, the “little train.”
It was a quick SNCF train ride from Paris, about 50 minutes or so, and we were in Vernon. Although we knew there was a bus to Giverny every 15 or 20 minutes, the only buses we saw once outside the station were a half block away and appeared to be city buses (in fact these were the buses we wanted but no matter). What we were faced with right outside the station entrance was one of those little tourist trains that meander all over creation before ending up at one place or another. We asked the man hawking the train — he would also be the driver — about the bus and he pointed out that the train was cheaper (6 versus 8 euros for the bus).
So we opted for the tourist train. It was a bit chilly — naturally I was unprepared — and after a few minutes the tiny train was wending its way through the warren of streets with a recorded guided tour of the high points of Vernon. A bit hokey to se sure but frankly we did get to see some pretty interesting sights of the city, half-timbered homes, medieval structures and the like, things we probably would not have seen had we taken the bus I suppose.
Before long we made our way to the lovely village of Giverny where we spent the next two hours or so connecting the present with an incredible past. Our first stop was the Impressionist Museum to see an exhibition of work by the Spanish impressionist Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923); that alone was worth the trip. Fantastic whites, striking seaside scenes and a wonderful portraitist, especially where his family was concerned.
From the exhibition to the cafe was simply a matter of a few steps and, it being time for lunch, we opted for the closest venue for food. I ate little of mine since a pair of bees seemed to relish the sweetish red sauce that accompanied my fish so I focused primarily on wine, not a bad tradeoff, this being France.
Anyway, after lunch we made our way into the village of Giverny and to the grave of Claude Monet and his family. Also buried in the tiny church cemetery are the seven crewman of a British Lancaster shot down by a German fighter the night of June 7-8, 1944. Their plane exploded into a ball of flames on hitting an open field just outside Giverny. In the 1990s large parts of the wreckage were unearthed and an intact propellor blade was found, serving as part of a separate memorial to those seven men — the memorial is located near Claude’s grave.
Leaving the cemetery we retraced our steps and made our way to Monet’s house, taking a turn around the wonderful water features that lie next to his home. The gardens are pretty much everything I expected and more — striking colors to be sure but all was lush and the growth thick, almost wild. Truly a wonderful thing to see.
His house is equally wonderful: the rooms quite small, which makes me wonder how big a man Monet actually was. His atelier was a joy to see, that space where he created so many beautifully moving works of art, the dining room so very yellow and the kitchen with a long row of copper pans of varying sizes strung along the long wall, all truly impressive.
Upon leaving the house we took our time making our way back to the rendezvous with our little train and we were soon chugging along the backroads toward the town of Vernon and the train station. The train ride back was uneventful although once back at Saint-Lazare it seemed that the other half of the population of Paris was determined to thwart our attempts to get to the Metro. Their efforts were to no avail, though, and before long we were on our way on the number 3 in the direction of eastern Paris.
Once back in our cozy apartment we decided to stay put for the evening and I fixed dinner. Another wonderful day in France — wish you were there. . .
Today was our long-awaited day trip to Giverny. Susan had been there some years ago when she got caught in Paris after the volcano erupted in Iceland and had a few extra days to kill. She has been saying ever since that we needed to go there together — and with the exhibition of works by the Spanish impressionist Sorolla at the Impressionist Museum in Giverny - there was no time like the present.
Using the SNCF (French railway) website we purchased our train tickets online and were eager to see if we would be able to use the automatic kiosks at the railway station to print them out.
We walked up to Place Gambetta and took Metro line 3 to Saint-Lazare train station. Once inside the station we were confronted by a three levels of (mostly) shops and various train offices. Although caught up in half the population of Paris rushing every which way we eventually found our way to the “Grand lignes” ticket office where we learned much to our chagrin that we could NOT access our tickets using the kiosks. (The same problem was experienced by the MacDs in Lille when all of us went to Bruges.) While I stood in line for a ticket agent Susie buttonholed one of the information agents standing close by and even he couldn’t figure out why our chip-card wouldn’t work.
(The fine print on our ticket pointed out that credit cards with the magnetic stripe would NOT work at the kiosks. Go figure.)
After getting our tickets we had a short wait for the train to Vernon; Giverny is a few kilometers away and can only be accessed by bus, car, on foot or, as we were to experience, the “little train.”
It was a quick SNCF train ride from Paris, about 50 minutes or so, and we were in Vernon. Although we knew there was a bus to Giverny every 15 or 20 minutes, the only buses we saw once outside the station were a half block away and appeared to be city buses (in fact these were the buses we wanted but no matter). What we were faced with right outside the station entrance was one of those little tourist trains that meander all over creation before ending up at one place or another. We asked the man hawking the train — he would also be the driver — about the bus and he pointed out that the train was cheaper (6 versus 8 euros for the bus).
So we opted for the tourist train. It was a bit chilly — naturally I was unprepared — and after a few minutes the tiny train was wending its way through the warren of streets with a recorded guided tour of the high points of Vernon. A bit hokey to se sure but frankly we did get to see some pretty interesting sights of the city, half-timbered homes, medieval structures and the like, things we probably would not have seen had we taken the bus I suppose.
Before long we made our way to the lovely village of Giverny where we spent the next two hours or so connecting the present with an incredible past. Our first stop was the Impressionist Museum to see an exhibition of work by the Spanish impressionist Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923); that alone was worth the trip. Fantastic whites, striking seaside scenes and a wonderful portraitist, especially where his family was concerned.
From the exhibition to the cafe was simply a matter of a few steps and, it being time for lunch, we opted for the closest venue for food. I ate little of mine since a pair of bees seemed to relish the sweetish red sauce that accompanied my fish so I focused primarily on wine, not a bad tradeoff, this being France.
Anyway, after lunch we made our way into the village of Giverny and to the grave of Claude Monet and his family. Also buried in the tiny church cemetery are the seven crewman of a British Lancaster shot down by a German fighter the night of June 7-8, 1944. Their plane exploded into a ball of flames on hitting an open field just outside Giverny. In the 1990s large parts of the wreckage were unearthed and an intact propellor blade was found, serving as part of a separate memorial to those seven men — the memorial is located near Claude’s grave.
Leaving the cemetery we retraced our steps and made our way to Monet’s house, taking a turn around the wonderful water features that lie next to his home. The gardens are pretty much everything I expected and more — striking colors to be sure but all was lush and the growth thick, almost wild. Truly a wonderful thing to see.
His house is equally wonderful: the rooms quite small, which makes me wonder how big a man Monet actually was. His atelier was a joy to see, that space where he created so many beautifully moving works of art, the dining room so very yellow and the kitchen with a long row of copper pans of varying sizes strung along the long wall, all truly impressive.
Upon leaving the house we took our time making our way back to the rendezvous with our little train and we were soon chugging along the backroads toward the town of Vernon and the train station. The train ride back was uneventful although once back at Saint-Lazare it seemed that the other half of the population of Paris was determined to thwart our attempts to get to the Metro. Their efforts were to no avail, though, and before long we were on our way on the number 3 in the direction of eastern Paris.
Once back in our cozy apartment we decided to stay put for the evening and I fixed dinner. Another wonderful day in France — wish you were there. . .
 |
| Giverny train station |
 |
| the little train |
 |
| Sorolla exhibition |
 |
| Cousant la Voile 1896 |
 |
| Pècheuses valenciennes 1903 |
 |
| Pècheuses valenciennes 1903, detail |
 |
| Retour de la peche 1894 |
 |
| Mère 1895-1900 |
 |
| Instantané: Biarritz 1906 |
 |
| cafe at the museum |
 |
| Claude's grave |
 |
| grave of seven British airmen shot down near Giverny |
 |
| memorial to the airmen, using a propellor salvaged from the wreckage |
 |
| French memorial to the men from the village who died during WW1 next to a dolmen |
 |
| a prehistoric tomb (dolmen) found nearby during routine excavations |
 |
| the Giverny church |
 |
| road through the village |
 |
| water features at Monet's home |
 |
| gardens in front of the house |
 |
| original main entrance to the house |
 |
| Monet's atelier or work room |
 |
| dining room |
 |
| kitchen -- what a selection of copper! |
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Lisbon to Porto by train
I purchased tickets a couple of months earlier in hand (and on our phones) ready and waiting. Since we will only be taking two trains this t...
-
[20 April, Easter Sunday] OK, so our morning wasn't actually spent in Annecy per se. Still the bus said Annecy City Tour. . . We had ou... -
[22-23 April] We were packed and ready to go by 9:00am. After last-minute tidying up we left the apartment keys on the table, hauled our ba...