Giverny
Introduction Claude Monet, the father of impressionism, lived and did his most creative work at his beloved home in Giverny, France, shown to the right, during the last 40 years of his life. Giverny is now a popular tourist site. Reproductions of many of Monet’s paintings as well as some of the Japanese prints that he avidly collected are there, and the beauty of his gardens, that he loved, has been restored. Claude Monet Claude Monet (1848 - 1926) is generally considered to be the most outstanding painter of the impressionistic movement. The term Impressionism is derived from Monet’s painting titled “Impression: Sunrise.” Impressionist art is based on the use of color without resorting to lines, and pure black was seldom used. The development of photography was an impetus to Impressionism. Rather than attempting to capture subjects in precise detail, as the old masters had done, the Impressionists focused more on recording of visual reality by painting the transient effects of light and color. Impressionists had a passion for painting the appearance of nature, including effects of weather, time of day and seasons, outdoors at a particular moment rather than creating its representation in a studio. Most impressionist paintings were produced in the period between about 1867 and 1886. In addition to Monet, the principle impressionist painters were Renoir, Pissaro, Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Sisley, Morisot, Guillaumin and Bazille. At age 60, Monet began to have failing eyesight due to cataracts, but he continued to paint, with some adjustments in style, until his death. Monet wrote “My bad sight means that I see everything through a mist. Even so, it is beautiful, and that’s what I want to show.” As a painter, he was amazingly prolific. His paintings are exhibited by numerous museums around the world. For more information about Monet’s life, click on Monet. Giverny Monet’s home and garden in Giverny has become a place of pilgrimage for many art lovers, especially admirers of Monet’s Impressionist paintings. In 1883 Monet moved to Giverny, a small peasant community 40 miles northwest of Paris. He lived at his beloved home and garden in Giverney for the remaining 43 years of his life. Monet created many of his most famous paintings at Giverny. Monet rented his Giverny house, known as Maison du Pressoir (cider-press house), until 1890 when he purchased it. He then devoted much of his attention to improving the house. He painted the shutters and trim of his pink house a bright green, and later many of the villagers used the color to paint their doors and garden furniture. That color became known as “Monet green.” Monet developed a passion for his garden. He did his own gardening until 1892 when he began hiring gardeners. To enlarge his gardens, he bought an adjacent meadow and pond. He even persuaded the town council to redirect the Ru River, which flowed through his meadow, to enlarge and reshape his garden. Monet’s garden became a beautiful floral display to delight the eye and provide subjects for his paintings. After Monet’s death, his garden fell into disarray, but it has been restored to its original beauty. Famous features of the garden includes a Japanese bridge hung with wisteria and a water lily pond. Giverny is just over 50 miles (80 km) from Paris. By car, take expressway A13 from Paris to the Vernon Exit (D181). Cross the Seine in Vernon and follow D5 to Giverny. Or take the train from Paris’ Gare St-Lazare to Vernon (about 50 minutes). Take a bus or taxi from the Vernon train station to Giverny (3 1/2 miles or 5 1/2 km). For more information about Giverny, click on
Giverny.
For information about a guided bus tour to Monet’s home and garden and the American Museum in Giverny, click on
Giverny Tour.
Monet’s “Impression: Sunrise,” painted in 1873, gave Impressionism its name. It was shown at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, and it was the object of censure and abuse by critics and the public. However, after being taken aback at first, Monet’s contemporaries who became known as Impressionists adopted with pride the name that had been insulted. Monet’s “Impression: Sunrise” is now one of the most famous paintings in the world. To view its full-screen image, click on Impression Sunrise.
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