Monet at Giverny

by Caroline Holmes

In more than 140 beautifully designed illustrations, come explore these remarkable grounds, and see Monet as a consummate plantsman who composed his garden with an Impressionist’s care for color and form—and then reinterpreted the landscape’s mood in art. Paintings, engravings, and garden views reveal how he shaped the world to his outstanding imagination.

Genres: Art, Gardening

192 pages, Paperback

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.