Monet at Giverny

by Caroline Holmes

Claude Monet spent the last 43 years of his long life at Giverny, creating the paintings and gardens for which he is now revered.From the standpoint of his garden this book considers the controlling intelligence behind both landscape and art, and the influences that shaped Monet’s life and vision. It is divided into three The Man, The Garden, and The Paintings. The artist is shown as a consummate plants man who composed his gardens with an Impressionist’s care for color and form, re-interpreting its motifs in paintings of power and abstraction. Drawing upon the voices of Monet and his contemporaries and offering a wealth of horticultural detail, this is a fascinating celebration of a unique artistic mind. Using contemporary correspondence and plant catalogues, with over 150 illustrations including paintings, engravings and garden views from Monet’s lifetime and today’s magnificent recreation, this book provides a visual exploration of the gardens at Giverny where Monet celebrated his passion for painting and plants. Why? The restoration of Monet’s garden at Giverny draws in hundreds of thousands of people from around the world as it provides a unique living link between the artist and his domain. This book enhances that experience for those who have visited or are about to visit. Even if you never have the opportunity the reader, like Monet, can lose themselves in the planted colors he would have known.

Genres: Art, Gardening

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2002

Reviews

[Hana]

In 1883 Claude Monet, nearly destitute, rented a rustic farm house at Giverny, seemingly on a whim. Here he installed his large blended family and set to work renovating the house and gardens. The house, the countryside, and increasingly happy family life began to work a kind of magic and within three years Money enjoyed a remarkable increase in the sales of his paintings. Over the decades his wealth would grow and he expanded his property, the gardens growing ever more ambitious. For the next 43 years of his life Claude Monet would find inspiration and refuge in his gardens at Giverny.

Now, looking back, the man and his art and the gardens at Giverny seem almost inseparable. This sumptuous book celebrates all three with lavish illustrations, including many photographs of Monet and his family.



I particularly enjoyed learning Monet’s approach to gardening—the way he coaxed “an explicit ‘natural’ response from his plants, allowing annuals such as poppies and verbascum to self-seed at random.”



Or how he planted west-facing beds with yellow, orange and red flowers “whose colours would glow brighter yet in the setting sun.”



Or used blues in shady spots for an even cooler effect--like these agapanthus.



Of course, most of all I loved the water lilies and the Japanese bridge. It was amusing to learn that Monet ran into trouble with the neighbors when he decided to re-route and dam an entire stream to create his pond. Here in the U.S. the EPA would have been all over him for wetland studies and environmental impact statements.



I'm so glad Monet prevailed.

[Caroline Thorley]

I enjoyed this book very much. I learnt a lot of new facts about Monet and got an insight into the way he painted. This book is well illustrated with here lots of photos of Monet painting, his paintings and photos of the flowers in his garden at Giverny as they are today. I must visit the garden one day although I'm put off by the fact that it's apparently always very crowded.

[Larry]

Beautiful and interesting. The author is a garden historian. I never knew such a thing existed but if any garden would benefit from one it would be Monet’s at Giverny. This book was really good and it was really informing to look at Monet’s paintings in relationship to his beloved garden. How he crafted, created and cared for it.

[Marilyn]

I went to giverny two years ago. This book was super in remembering the visit and plumping more history of the house and artist.

[Dianne]

Beautiful paintings, vintage photos of life at Giverny and interesting stories, not very organized or connected tho. Coffee table book.