We spent this weekend at another artist immersion exhibition. This time it was impressionist artist Claude Monet. And just like the Van Gough exhibit was saw last year, this was a multi media event with interactive exhibits, and stunning visuals.
This exhibit did a great job of giving context to the impressionist movement. A series of signs described how photography gave impressionist artists freedom from painting realistic portraiture. Now portraits of people could be photographed, which left artists free to explore other creative interpretations of their subjects.
This red sign give a great description of how photography impacted the artist’s view of color and composition.
This one I found interesting. Describing how violet is used instead of black to create shadow. Since violet is my favorite color, you can call me a violet maniac from now on! BTW, what most people call purple, is actually violet. Purple is more the color of this sign.
In the next room, we saw some of his famous paintings.
His series of the Rouen Cathedral painted at different times of day is one of my favorites! Here there was just one painting, but there was more to come later!
The next room was a garden inspired by Monet’s own natural retreat, complete with Japanese style bridges and ponds with koi fish ‘swimming on the floor‘. In the spaces where there wasn’t fish ‘swimming’, the room was carpeted with artificial turf to give the illusion of walking on grass. This Japanese influence was also seen in impressionist paintings, since many artists like Monet were influenced by the Japanese prints on exhibition in Europe during this time. How I would love to have a real garden like this for when my anxiety kicks in!
This video only shows part of the room. It was much bigger than what you see here.
Here’s a better view of one of the bridges, blanketed on top with beautiful plants that spill over and down towards the ground.
From here we move on to the immersion room, where you are surrounded by videos of Monet’s life and his work. And this is also where I saw one of my favorites I mentioned earlier.
This was just two of many he painted of the Rouen Cathedral. My video work isn’t the best at capturing everything in the room because I didn’t want to capture any people that were there, and also I wanted to relax and enjoy the splendor of being surrounded by this amazing work.
After the awe inspiring experience of the immersion, we went into the gift shop. I can’t explain how this happened, but instead of buying a Monet poster, socks or earbud case, I purchased this (makeup) bag printed with a painting from Gustav Klimt.
There was also an immersion exhibit of his work next door, but it was closed at the time we were there. Klimt was an Austrian artist who was alive about the same time as Monet. And as you can see by the colors and flat, two dimensional appearance of this work, he was also influenced by Japanese prints.
There was just something about the expression on this woman with the very long neck that resonated with me. Like she’s thinking, ‘I’ll make myself beautiful for you, but only on my terms!’. Hence I thought it would be appropriate for a makeup bag. 😉
I guess that was one thing I found missing from Monet’s work that I found in Klimt’s and Van Gough’s. Emotion. Monet studied art and color on a much more cerebral level. Which isn’t a bad thing. I find his work very interesting and inspiring. I just didn’t feel the need to bring it home with me.
Take care everyone. ❤️