A founder of French Impressionist painting and the most prolific practitioner of the movement’s philosophy of expressing one’s perceptions before nature, Claude Monet created a large body of works, developing his own method of producing repeated studies of the same motif in a series, whilst changing canvases with the shift in light. Delphi’s Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing readers to explore the works of great artists in comprehensive detail. This volume presents over 500 paintings of the Impressionist master. For all art lovers, this stunning collection offers a beautiful feast of images by one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. (Version 2)
Features: * Over 500 paintings, indexed and arranged in chronological order * Includes reproductions of rare works * Features a special ‘Highlights’ section, with concise introductions to the masterpieces, giving valuable contextual information * Enlarged ‘Detail’ images, allowing you to explore Monet’s celebrated works in detail, as featured in traditional art books * Numerous images relating to Monet’s life and works * Learn about the history of the Impressionists and the celebrated works that shaped the art movement in the detailed biography THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS by Camille Mauclair * Scholarly ordering of plates into chronological order
CONTENTS:
The Highlights LUNCHEON ON THE GRASS SELF PORTRAIT WITH A BERET THE TERRACE AT SAINTE-ADRESSE WOMEN IN THE GARDEN BATHERS-AT-LA-GRENOUILLÈRE ON THE BANK OF THE SEINE, BENNECOURT THE MAGPIE POPPIES BLOOMING WOMAN WITH A PARASOL IMPRESSION, SUNRISE GARE SAINT LAZARE, ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN IN THE WOODS AT GIVERNY BLANCHE HOSCHEDÉ HAYSTACKS, (SUNSET) ROUEN CATHEDRAL, FAÇADE (SUNSET) BRIDGE OVER A POND OF WATER LILIES HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, LONDON WATER LILIES THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE NYMPHEAS THE ROSE-WAY IN GIVERNY
The Paintings THE PAINTINGS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS
The Biography THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS by Camille Mauclair
Claude Monet also known as Oscar-Claude Monet or Claude Oscar Monet (November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926) was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting.
I adore Monet's "Woman with a Parasol". The way he captures light and movement is simply magical. It feels like a breath of fresh air, so full of life!
Claude Monet is one of my favorites artists, interesting because of his Impressionistic Art which I thought I was not a fan but Turner changed that after seeing his work. I did not list my favorite of Monet's paintings because I loved so many of them and in truth it is hard to find one I did not enjoy. His work is nature and outside work with a few indoor works. I loved how he took a subject like Haystacks or London's Parliament Building with multiple paintings and different times of day and seasons shows the effect of change in colors which gives us a different feeling. What more can I say but it was pure joy to see his works.
Below highlights from this Kindle edition which I found gives a brief overview of Monet.
"Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840 in Paris; he was the second son of Claude Adolphe Monet and Louise Justine Aubrée Monet. Five years later, his family moved to Le Havre in Normandy, where his father intended him to go into the family's ship-chandling and grocery business. However, the young Monet had very different plans. He wanted to become an artist and his mother, an accomplished singer, supported his desire for a career in art. On 1 April 1851, Monet entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts, where he became renowned for his charcoal caricatures, which he would sell for ten to twenty francs. "
"On 28 January 1857, Monet’s mother died suddenly. At the age of sixteen, he left school and went to live with his widowed, childless aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre. On his arrival in Paris, he visited the Louvre and witnessed many painters copying from the old masters. Having brought his paints and other tools with him, he would instead go and sit by a window and paint what he saw outside. Monet remained in Paris for several years and met other pioneering painters, including Édouard Manet. "
"Monet’s relations with his father were tense at the time, owing to the family’s disapproval of his liaison with Camille Doncieux, a model. The stiff representation of the figures and looming dark clouds in the sky seem to hint at the difficult time Monet had when staying with his family in the summer of 1867. Unable to see his mistress, who just given birth to their son, and disillusioned by his art not being recognised, Monet attempted suicide shortly after completing the painting. "
"Monet had hoped the painting would achieve recognition at the Paris Salon, as Manet had done in his previous work. However, due to financial difficulties, which would go on to plague him throughout his younger years as an artist, Monet had to sell the painting to a creditor, who kept it locked up and unseen in a cellar for many years. "
"This famous painting gave rise to the name of the Impressionist movement. Completed by 1872, it depicts the harbour of Le Havre in France, with very loose brushstrokes that suggest an impression of the scene, rather than a realistic delineation of the subject. Monet later explained the purpose of the painting in a letter: “Landscape is nothing but an impression, and an instantaneous one, hence this label that was given us, by the way because of me. I had sent a thing done in Le Havre, from my window, sun in the mist and a few masts of boats sticking up in the foreground....They asked me for a title for the catalogue, it couldn’t really be taken for a view of Le Havre, and I said: ‘Put Impression.’” Impression, Sunrise was displayed in 1874 during the first independent art show of a group of painters that would later be known as the Impressionists. It was critic Louis Leroy’s hostile review of the show that encouraged the naming of the new art movement, when he titled it “The Exhibition of the Impressionists” in Le Charivari newspaper. "
"This painting was completed in 1904 and is now housed in Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris. Monet created a series of paintings of the Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament, during his stays in London between 1900 and 1905. The paintings all have the same size and viewpoint from Monet’s window at St Thomas’ Hospital, overlooking the Thames. As in Monet’s other series, these works are painted at different times of the day and during varied weather circumstances, capturing the subtle differences of perceiving the same scene. At this time Monet had abandoned his earlier working practice of completing a painting en plein air. He would now take the canvases back to Giverny, where he continued refining the images. Therefore he had to send to London for photographs to help with the final preparations of the series. Although criticised harshly by some for this process, the artist was adamant it was ‘his own business’ how he went about his work, also arguing it was up to the viewer to judge the final result for themselves. "
"Monet’s series of Water Lilies is composed of approximately 250 oil paintings, which depict his flower garden at Giverny. The series was the main focus of Monet’s artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. The majority of the works were created when the artist had very poor eyesight, due to his suffering from cataracts, which partly explains their enigmatic and unusual colouring. "
Reading about Monet's losing and loss of his sight, I found especially interesting because of my trouble last year that without modern surgical intervention due to retina and macular detachment, I would have been basically blind in my right eye. I would think for him more tragic due to his seeing his surroundings and painting. His eyesight loss was due to cataracts and he had surgery in the 1920's a couple years before his death. Like Monet I had cataract surgery, though mine was due to the effect of surgery which in less then a month almost complete cloudiness, so I can relate to some of what he went through. The Water Lilly Pond painting by a bridge from 1899 with better sight and compared to 1923-1925 Japanese Bridge which is the same area but the loss of sight showed in his work. He died in 1926.
"In 1922, Monet had to stop his work altogether, but in the following year he had an operation that partially restored his sight, allowing him to continue with his art. However, his sight now had a strange veiled quality, distorting the colours he perceived. Sadly, he lost his eyesight completely in 1926, shortly before his death. What he left behind, though, was one of the most extraordinary series of paintings the world has ever seen. "
I did not read the biographies but may do so at some point, hence back to the "to read" shelf.
Like most of the books in this series, the first part is good, but the second part with its copyright-free text is just embarrassingly outdated.
While it’s interesting to have a glimpse of how Impressionism was perceived in older days, it is just written with standards and qualities that are not acceptable today (I mean, calling Pissarro a second-grade artist?! Give me a break).
Every book in this series has this old text added to it just to fill the pages, but other than Vasari, there’s really no need for it, and it really makes me wonder if to go on reading this series.
While I enjoyed Monet's paintings before reading this, I did so at a mere superficial level. Given the background information and the format of the presentation of the works of Monet I think that I will be able to enjoy viewing them on a deeper level going forward.
Impressive art. The ones I marked for myself were Flowers and Fruit, Woman with a Parasol, Guurtje Van de Stadt, Gladiolas, Shadows on the Sea the Cliffs at Pourville, Houses of Parliamnet Symphonie in Rose, Water Lilies.
1890s Paris & Claude Monet, trying to bring back impressionism with his art. The emphasis was on an initial impression instead of painting minute details, the total composition represented a scene as though the viewer was pasting the landscape or object on a train, and viewed the area or person for only a fleeting moment. The colors are impressions that registered in the painter's mind instead of details. Monet knew the technique called "en plein air," which basically means to paint outdoors. Most of the paintings in this collection are of outdoors.
Claude Monet is easily one of my most beloved artists and his collected works perfectly compiled in an accessible and easily digestible book is a treat to the senses.
Woman with a Parasol and Women in the Garden are my constants. While the critics of his time often ridiculed his "unpolished" style and narrative portrayals, Monet's heavy brush strokes and manipulation of beautifully dappled light are elements of which my heart deeply fell for.
It’s a shame these are only eBooks because Delphi does a really good job with these. Nothing crazy to report here, there’s a brief Impressionist essay excerpt at the end from 100ish years ago, so it was interesting to find slight differences in that analysis versus a more broad look from the modern day. Liked the organized catalog of works
An okay read if you want to get into the artist. It’s mostly pictures of his art with some small tidbits of information on a few of them, but by no means is this a one stop shop for all things Monet.
A properly structured art book. Describes in brief details how and when each artwork took place, also by not leaving behind the emotional and personal status of Claude Monet.