Monet At The Denver Art Museum

The Boulevard des Capucines, 1873-74

Claude Monet

What a treat to visit the Denver Art Museum yesterday to see the Monet exhibit, "The Truth of Nature".  It is a wonderful show, with room upon room filled with his plein air paintings and landscapes.  The show begins with some caricatures he drew as a teenager, and continues all the way through to his abstracted water lily paintings from his garden in Giverney toward the end of his life.

The exhibition guides pointed out that Monet became more interested in describing atmosphere rather than reality as he progressed through life.  And it was interesting to note how frustrated he often became as he chased the light for his paintings.  

"Color is my daylong obsession, joy, and torment."

The exhibition will be here until February.  I hope that you'll have a chance to come and see it!

"Autumn in Giverny", 16x20", oil on linen

"Autumn in Giverny", 16x20", oil on linen

At the Petter Gallery, Saugatuck, Michigan

(269) 857-2230

I'm continuing to work from my references from France.  I knew when I saw this scene in Monet's garden that it had many elements which would make it recognizable as Giverny: the lily pads, the little pink and green building, and the purple/pink reflections in the water.  The leaves had just started to turn and to begin dropping into the water like colorful little jewels.  I enjoyed painting this piece so much-- I hope you enjoy it too!

"Early Autumn, Paris", 20x16" And Thoughts on Light With Claude Monet

"Early Autumn, Paris"

The light in the city was much cooler than the light in Provence

"Sunday Morning, Aix en Provence"

I tried to capture the warmth of the sun in southern France

The Impressionists are famous for their attention to the light in their paintings.  A viewer can often tell the season, time of day, and sometimes even the geography of a scene when they look at an Impressionistic painting.  When I was in France, I could see for myself how the light changed when we moved further south.  I tried to convey the difference in the light in the two paintings above.  I even went so far as to put a bit of a blue "halo" around the light on the Parisian sidewalk to make it appear cooler.  In Provence, yellow became a dominant color for the light.

Monet spent close to a year in Rouen, panting the front of the cathedral there at different times of day and seasons.  He set up camp in a women's clothing store across the street, much to the dismay of many of the store's patrons!  He didn't see why a male painter in a women's shop should cause any disturbance for a few months.

Here are three versions of the cathedral, as painted by Monet.  Each one is lovely in its own right, but they convey very different feelings through the colors he chose.  

As a painter, I could take a page from Monet's book and paint the same scene over and over again in different seasons and times of day.  What better lesson could there be in conveying feelings about a scene through color?  

The facade of the cathedral today.