Monet's Landscapes

by Vivian Russell

The author and photographer retraces Monet's footsteps through France, revisiting his favorite spots to photograph the sites painted by the great Impressionist. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Art

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Vivian Russell is a writer and photographer. She is American but has lived in England and France for most of her life. Her books include Gardens of the Riviera, Monet's Garden (which won the Garden Writers' Guild Award), Monet's Water Lilies, Monet's Landscapes, Edith Wharton's Italian Gardens and, most recently Dog Show. She was a regular contributor to Gardens Illustrated for many years and now writes and photographs for the Daily Telegraph gardening supplement.

Reviews

[Adam Kovynia]

You get to learn about Monet's life through this book by his letters to his wife and what she had to say to him. You learn about the places he goes and the struggles he has as a painter because of the weather and his frustrations with improving his work and with being away from his family and how his wife was concerned he was with other women and how Monet always reassured her he was not. There are many photo's of the places Monet went and also how he painted them.

[carl theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the first week or two of college every Fall
a vendor would arrive selling thousands of artsy
posters in the student union. Despite the variety
many would chose Van Gough's 'Starry Night' or
Monet's 'Water Lilies' to adorn the walls of their
first dorm room or apartment. For a little
something different I went with one of Monet's
Dutch Tulip fields works, which is on the cover
of this book, and since this was a gift, a
fun coincidence inspiring this memory.

This coffee table style book cleverly presents some
of Monet's Landscapes in comparison with a
photograph of the scene today. The high quality
photos look great and the paintings pop off the page,
making it fun just to page through.

Along with insights to scenery and the artwork,
extracts from Monet's letters also follow the tale.
At first I didn't think his correspondence would be
that interesting, but it did set the scene and give
the narration a cozy feel. Not to mention making
Monet all the more human; as he was a Plein Air
painter, he spends a lot of time complaining about
the weather, as if a rage will help, those artistes!
His wife, Alice, tries to keep him on a short leash,
and rather funny that since Renoir is always trying
to tag a long on his painting trips, Monet has to
'ditch' him like one would a pest in grade school.

[Chastance · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brief timeline of Monet's letters to Alice with photographs of places he painted and a few of the paintings.