Claude Monet part 1: Monet’s Home in Giverny
Monet Series: part 1 of 3
Monet purchased his house and the grounds of which sit his famous gardens back in 1890 though he had been living in Giverny since 1883. He then purchased additional land in 1893 on the other side of, what was then, a railway to dig a small pond. He said his best creation was his garden and he apparently worked very hard to and spent a lot of money to get things to his liking. I find that pretty amazing considering his prolific output of paintings in his lifetime.
Monet's creation was ravaged by war and neglect. Trees were found to be growing in his studio and the house was rotting away. Thanks to generous donors, mostly from the USA, the house and gardens were again restored. 500,000 people visit the gardens annually.
A few years ago I was the luckiest person in the world to meet the right people at the right time to be given the privilege of my lifetime to paint in Monet’s Garden for 5 days. I was allowed to roam freely before and after tourist hours with my camera and my easel and paint all alone. I felt as if I were a privileged guest of Mr. & Mrs. Monet. I only wish I could have met Mr. Monet and all his guests that were invited to paint in his garden. The Monet’s had many famous artists as guests. Renoir was a frequent visitor as was one of my all time favorite artists John Singer Sargeant. Pissaro and Mary Cassat were also guests.
Quite the home Mr. Monet had built! The kitchen stood out as the place to hang out, as it was bright, warm and cozy. The main color outside was a warm white while the trim around all the windows and paint on the doors as well as fencing were all painted in a cadmium, funky green color which I call Monet green. It was prevalent throughout and if you look at the shutters, trim and even the ironwork that hold the roses you'll see Monet Green everywhere.
I was there in late May and flowers were blooming and the aroma was intoxicating. Visually it was mind blowing as I was literally overwhelmed with color, motifs and greens, lots of green.
I was very lucky with the weather. It rained late at night; it was never windy and not too cold or too hot. Rarely was the sun out and too bright and the light was near perfect everyday. It was just meant to be.
Stay tuned for part two when I move over to the pond side of the garden and try to figure out what to paint.
