art: poplars in autumn, pink effect {monet}

Here's Monet's beautiful "Poplars in Autumn, Pink Effect". Doesn't Monet capture the colors and light of a sunny fall day perfectly? And, it's as if we can see the leaves move in the wind.  

Poplars in Autumn, Pink Effect
Claude Monet, 1891

inspired - gardens in art

I spent the day in the garden, and though it was hard work, it was completely enjoyable. I can't think of when I feel more clarity of mind than when I'm gardening. Here are two painted garden scenes - one by Klimt and one by Monet. I find their choice of colors beautiful. I can only imagine that the artists were quite inspired by these scenes.

Klimt's "Flower Garden" from 1908 -
I love the colors

Monet's "The Artist's Family in the Garden"
Isn't this a wonderful scene?

Monet's "An Orchard in Spring"

I thought it might be nice to see another painting depicting springtime. This time, we have a painting by Claude Monet, Tissot's contemporary and friend (see yesterday's post). This Monet portrays a very similar scene as Tissot's "Spring". But, in contrast to Tissot's realism, Monet's style is quintessentially impressionistic. I think both pieces are beautiful regardless of their different styles. In addition to the artists' skill, perhaps it's the subject matter I find so appealing.

An Orchard in Spring, by Claude Monet
painted in 1886

poppies: in art & in the garden

Hanging on in our hallway are bright and colorful pieces of art. Two of my favorites are of the same subject - poppies. The first is a painting I bought at the Madison Art Fair on the Square a few years ago. The colors and subject caught my eye, and this painting - with its happy hues - still delights me every time I pass by.

My dad is an excellent photographer and in his office/studio he has many of his great photos. He being the very generous dad that he is, let me have a photo he took of a poppy. My photo of this photograph doesn't really do the original justice - but it's gorgeous in person. He was able to capture the delicate, paper-like poppy petals with real precision.

I captured these next two images in my parents' backyard garden. 

a close-up

poppies just look happy, don't they?

Poppies of course have been favorite subjects of many painters too. Perhaps it's that poppies are so vibrant and lend such a punch of color. Here are a few poppy painting I find particularly beautiful.

Monet's "Poppies Blooming" 1873
at the Musee d'Orsay, Paris

Perhaps less famous than the Monet pictured above,
but no less beautiful.  This is by William Blair Bruce -
"Landscape with Poppies", 1887

the iconic American painter, Georgia O'Keefe's,
"Oriental Poppies", 1928

Aren't they gorgeous?

an impressionist sky

Early morning skies almost always bring about the most unbelievable shades of colors and the way one color can bleed into the next, reminds me of Impressionist paintings. One recent morning I woke up early, looked out the front window and grabbed my camera because the sky was stunning. It just had to be photographed.

The sky appeared as if an artist took his brush and painted wide strokes of pinks, peaches, lavenders and blues. It's like Monet was asked to help out with the sunrise this particular morning.

sublime!

beautiful isn't it?

a Monet in Paris with similar shades

Monet & waterlilies

For those of you who've read many of my posts, you know well enough by now that I might have a little bit of an obsession with light and how light alters everything it touches. Our perception of an object changes based purely on what kind of light is shining. Is it a bright sunny day, is there an unflattering fluorescent light, or is there the softness of flickering of candles? 

To me, I think no artist captures this concept of light more adeptly than Monet. My art history courses back in college were hand's down my favorite classes - I remember more of what was taught by those professors than by any others - and interestingly enough even though I use nothing of what I learned in those classes for my job, it's that knowledge I learned in those many classes that I've taken with me and feel incredibly lucky to have stored away in "my back pocket".  I can walk into many museums with at least a small, working knowledge of what I'm viewing and how the art fits in with the corresponding history, because art viewed in context of history elevates something that may be beautiful to something that has real meaning and purpose.

But, back to Monet. I've put together some of the photographs that I've taken at various museums I've been to where I've seen just a handful his many waterlilies. The thing about Monet - if you don't know - is that he was groundbreaking as an artist in his ability to analyze how light hits objects at various point in time - say the time of day or the time of year - and then being the artistic genius he was, he was able to portray what he saw by giving us his depiction of the scene. He helped act as a catalyst in the art world - gone would be the days where only literal portrayals of scenery or people were painted or drawn - with Monet and all of the Impressionists it was all about the depiction of light, color, movement, and most importantly perhaps, the human elements of emotion and perception.

Here are some of just a few of Monet's Waterlilies. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

can't you see the reflection
even though it
is not explicitly depicted?

an extreme close up
I love the colors so much -
it's a beautiful color combination,
isn't it?

don't you feel like you're
really standing on a
bridge looking out at the water?
this one is at
the Art Institute in Chicago

another extreme close-up
it looks muddled, but step back
and the magic appears

one of the largest of the Waterlily series that
I've seen - this one is probably about
60 feet long - Musee de l''Orangerie, Paris
AMAZING to see in person