What reveal art is the journey to its roots, it is seeing what artist was looking at, that gives a perspective of the grand challenge they took on and allows us to recognise their true mastery.
When it comes to Impressionism, seeing the true nature of Claude Monet's art is a cornerstone to understanding the moment in general. Having seen Monet's works in several museums around the globe, I had a pretty good idea of the subjects and familiarity with the brushwork to differentiate a Monet's piece, from, say, Manet's or Renoir's. However basic this might sound to art critics. But Monet's paintings, in its recognisable pastel colours and with the subtle changes in the tone and shade did not speak to me. I found magnetic the level of detail and colour interchanges, especially after seeing the Water Lilies in MOMA but I could not imagine how the artists arrived to depicting the nature the way he did.
It always took me a while to set his paintings in motion by watching them closely for prolongued periods of time, from up close and from a distance, from different angles to make out the brush strokes, navigating the glare introduced by the museum lights. Making out the brush strokes helped to navigate the masterpiece, by seeing how it was physically layered but it does leave a lot of room for the true "crush", for the feeling of being taken away by n artwork, feeling that it "clicked" with you.. feeling that it spoke to your mind and your heart.. feeling of the shared secret, when your brain captures the subtle intention of the artist hidden behind the intricate details, - the "point" of the painting itself and art in general.
But I believed, not everything is lost in understanding the father of impressionism. There had to be a way of making Monet's lilies "dance" and his pastel colours and blurry edges reveal the true emotion his paintings are supposed to induce... And the way to the heart of his art was the ay to Giverny, - to his garden, to his pond,..
To the natural wonder Monet constructed, where the ripples comes alive as water is being touched by the wind, with the branches of the weeping willow dancing rythmically with the clouds, passing over the pond.
So Giverny it was... at last.
The experience is certainly worth the wait. I knew about the garden for about 4 years before I finally decided to come here. And I can only say, this decision should have been made sooner.
It is an experience of a lifetime. The one not too be missed.
For just EUR5.5 (ticket price) one is admitted to the world of vibrant colours, streams and ponds and the gardens that played important role in the world receiving a gift of Impressionist's art. And you receive a gift of this art revealing itsleft in front you, live, unfitlered, with no contrast enhancement or VR goggles, it is breathing new life into you, moving you, fills your chest with tiny vibrating pockets of joy blossoming in front of your own very eyes.
Here is the Life is in Full HD.
There were few attributes of this garden that were "encouraged" by the painter in order to make a nature vivante (oppos. to nature morte) to his liking and everyone's admiration. These elements resemble the key features of a painting that are essential to get right, and that truly define one's artistic style: the colour, the composition, and the setting.
There were three different locations at the Monet's residence set up as if on purpose to study these three:
- the two gardens (the Clos Normad filled with rows of colourful flowers, the water garden with the lily pond) and
- the Japanese bridge, set over the delicate stream.
All three reproduce trully impressionistic effects in real life. It is rather the opposite that happens here, - the nature proceeded the paintings, not vice versa, but coming from the art-lovers perspective, Monet's paintings are seen more often than his garden, and therefore appear to be the "source". Although it is the nature (in these very gardens) that gave ideas for what was later to become defining traits of Impressionism.
Now it is time to let them tell us their stories, one by one.
"It seems to me, when I see nature, that I see it ready made, completely written — but then, try to do it! "
from Monet's letter to Frédéric Bazille from Honfleur, July 15, 1864; as cited in Mary M. Gedo (2013)
There is nothing quite like the vibrant colours of Monet's garden on a sunny day. The composition is rhythmic, the flowers, from the most ordinary to the most exotic ones, bring out the best in each other, inviting, offering comfort of beauty and structure but at the same time, by drawing the viewer in with its picture-perfect detail.
The nature here is picture perfect. Every photo taken here is a perfect composition, and does not require any extra effort but attention. Admiration and the joie de vivre (fr. exuberant enjoyment of life) comes naturally.
If you are longing for artistic inspiration, seeking to reconnect with yourself or simply want to break away from the gray of the man-made concrete and touch the beauty of this world in all its vibrancy, Monet's garden in Giverny is a place to be.
Garden is a creature of a dynamic nature. It follow a simple rule - everything changes; it morphs, it moves.
The nature here inhales, exhales, takes of, lands, crawls, trembles, flatters its wings and changes every minute.
It is the place to be observant. It won't bore you with same-ness.
It is different every season, every minute - with the blow of the wind, with the sun coming out or hiding, with emergence of a snail out of a pipe on a sidewalk ... the scenery here changes ever so subtly, but constantly. The nature is never the same. And every moment it paints a different picture, which you are a privileged to be a spectator of.
Japan open its borders in mid-1800s allowing its products, including the works of art to be exported overseas. This is how Monet, Van Gogh and many of their contemporaries, found themselves exploring Japanese style with its characteristic flat perspective-less view of landscapes and diagonal close-up compositions. The collection of Japanese art at Monet's house in Giverny reveals the artist's fascination with Oriental prints and its influence on his own work.
For example, the cut off composition of the bridge (used by Monet below) was new to Impressionists at the time and was inspired by Japanese prints. This comparison was presented at the exhibition "Looking East: How Japan Inspired Monet, Van Gogh, & Other Western Artists" at the Asian Art Museum.
Here (Monet's painting of a pond below, on the left) the three level of depth, - the depth of the pond, the surface of the water with its ripples and the reflections of the sky are combined in Monet's characteristic way. There are no shadows and no perspective, just flat lilies floating on the surface of the water, and the water itself turning from translucent, and revealing its depth in the foreground (just as it does in real life, see photos below) to sky reflections further away from the viewer.
Since the artwork is a controlled environment with a perception of a viewer being shaped through the variety of visual tools, it focuses our attention much better, than a vibrant dynamic ever-changing world around us, that we seem to be so lost in. The focus and the attention to detail that the art has with its view of the world, brings us comfort and understanding of the structure of the nature's fabric, feeling of engagement and groundedness though the observation of detail. Art make us feel connected to nature, and its subtle rhythms that we so willingly admire.
The light - at dawn, dusk, morning, midday and afternoon, - has profound effect on the visual appearance of the object we are looking at for it is the light that is reflected of it, which gives us the ability to "see" the object. Consider the morning light on the water (photo below) - the way it drops shadows on the surface of the water, reveals its depth and highlights its motion. The ripples on the surface are more visible on the bottom right, where the reflections of the sky dominate the canvas painted on the surface. On the left, the sky is not visible due to the angle at which the light penetrates the water and instead, one can see the shadows of the grass on the bank reaching all the way to the bottom.
Monet painted the Westminster in different colours, at different times throughout his stay in London, most of them from the same hotel room. We see the similar view point in his paintings, and notice the changes introduced by the light.
The essence of the expression, "to look at something in a different light", that we use so often, can be understood in its very direct sense by looking at Monet's paintings.
Monet's paintings are seen in a completely different light, - with the necessary knowledge in place, the paintings come alive, the layers are distinguishable, the depth - perceivable, the colours now don't seem blurry but symbolise the tender and careful attitude of the painter to the nature of the objects he captures.
And with the sweep of the wind in the mind's eye, the composition sets itself in motion...
And the branches of the weeping willow are swaying in the wind, the lilies in the pond are rocking gently in the breeze, with clouds rolling over them, casting intricate shadows on the surface of the water.
The vision you won't be able to unsee when you encounter Monet's paintings again.