(Paris, 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) Monet was a founder of French Impressionism, a 19th-century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s.
He lived in Giverny (1883 – 1926) where he painted his famous Water Lilies (or Nympheas), a series of approximately 250 oil paintings. They were the main focus of Monet’s artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. Many of the works were painted while Monet suffered from cataracts.
“I am not a great painter, great poet. I just know that I do what I can to express what I feel in front of nature.”
“At night I am obsessed with what I am striving to achieve. In the morning I get up broken by fatigue. The dawn gives me courage, but my anxiety rushes back as soon as I set foot into the studio. How difficult it is to paint… It really is torture.”
“There was a stream, the Epte, which came down from Gisors on the boundary of my property. I opened up a ditch so that I could fill the little pond that I had dug in my garden. I love water but I also love flowers. That’s why, when the pond was filled, I wished to decorate it with plants. I took a catalogue and made a choice any old how. That’s all.”
“Suddenly I had the revelation of how magical my pond is. I took up my palette. Since that time I have scarcely had any other model.”
“I want to paint the air in which the bridge, the house and the boat lie. The beauty of the air in which they are, and that is nothing other than impossible.”
“These landscapes of water and reflections have became my obsession. They are far beyond my old man powers and despite everything I want to succeed in conveying what I feel. I destroy some… I start over again… And I hope something will finally come from so many efforts.”
“The passing cloud, the cooling breeze, the sudden storm that threatens to burst and finally does, the wind that stirs and suddenly blows with full force, the light that fades and is reborn are all things, elusive to the eyes of the uninitiated, that transfigure the colour and shape of the bodies of water.”
“My sensitivity, far from diminishing, has been sharpened by age, which holds no fears for me so long as unbroken communication with the outside world continues to fuel my curiosity, so long as my hand remains a ready and faithful interpreter of my perception.”
“I’m working very hard and I would like to paint everything before I cannot see anymore.”
“Last autumn I burned six paintings with the dead leaves from my garden. It is enough to make you lose all hope. Yet I would not want to die without having said everything I have to say, or at least tried to say. And my days are numbered… Who knows what tomorrow will bring…”
judibug007 said:
As always, a marvelous article. Thanks, Jonie….xxxxxx
3bdigitalart said:
Wonderful! He was such a romantic in spite of the sadness of his vision loss!
gardenbear said:
Such pretty pictures; flowers and water, my favorite things! I enjoyed reading what Monet had to say about himself; very interesting. Seems even great artists are never satisfied.
ellen said:
i love monet! thank you again, jonie. what beautiful quotes.
Jonie said:
I love Monet’s paintings – if you follow the link you’ll get an idea of the quality and quantity! Amazing!
Thanks for your comments!
H.S. said:
I love Monet’s work! It’s so uplifting. Thank you for sharing, Jonie!
merelu said:
I love the paintings of Monet! thank you Jonie