The correct name for Mrs. Hoppe's profession is "conservator". And it is very different from the job of a "restorer". Astonishing that The New York Times keeps getting this wrong. Please also see
https://www.culturalheritage.org/about-conservation/what-is-conservation
Very interesting article otherwise!
15
Is the author sure that MOMA, who bought Monet's water lilies series in 1955, was "...the first American institution to do so"?
I'm a Chicagoan and I always understood it was the Art Institute of Chicago. So, I looked up the painting at AIC and it said 1933.
I don't believe Chicago is the "second city" on this one.
Can you confirm?
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Stunning! I gobble up all info on Monet.
Has anyone considered what’s popped into my mind?
This:
When sitting to paint, Monet could view the lilies between the wisteria.
To paint the lilies first is essential for an artist to know they are there. Wisteria is magnificent and mesmerizing. Adding it atop could have been an honoring.
13
Monet had cataracts in both eyes when these paintings were made. He was so scared of surgery he waited until he was functionally blind before he put himself under the knife.
His perception of colour varied wildly during this period.
Could that have influenced the move to wisterias?
8
The Worcester Art Museum, under the directorship of Philip J. Gentner, was a pioneer in the collecting of Monet’s work, as well as that of the American Impressionists such as Edmund Tarbell, Childe Hassam, and Frank Benson. The museum acquired its painting of Waterlilies in 1910, just two years after Monet painted it.
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@Virginia Interesting, thank-you...see my post about the Art Institute of Chicago's water lilies. Looks like MOMA was much later...not first at all.
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I'd recently seen the magnificent installation of the Grandes Decorations at the Orangerie. Now I can imagine the complete immersive experience had the wisterias been there as Monet intended.
12
Also not that well known (I think, but I may be wrong), is that in one of the Orangerie paintings he included an obscure self-portrait. I wasn't aware of this, but noticed such once there. Later, I checked it out on the web and, indeed, saw that this had been reported before using the same photograph as a reference : http://e-arthistory5.blogspot.com/2017/03/monets-self-portrait-hidden-in-his.html.
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Is there a digital image or images somewhere "suggesting" what it would look like if the water lilies and wisterias were hung all together in the groupings Monet intended?
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Decades ago I went to L'Orangerie, alone, on a chilly rainy day. There weren't many people there. I can still conjure up the feeling of being enveloped by his colors, a feeling that went beyond appreciating the visual. That sounds pedantic. It was more like inhaling shimmering light.
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A true Master. Only Mondrian was in his league.
2
What a wonderful article, and kudos to our fellow conservators!
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It would add about 40 million to the value of the painting if it was his last waterlily. I want to believe that last waterlily story so much.
I am a fan of Monet and the bridge to abstract expressionist has always been evident to me.
6
Whatever you say about Monet's later work, you have to admit that it was all transporting. Like the work of Philip Glass.
11
Mad Enchantment by Ross King is a wonderful summer read to bring the artist and the beauty of the lilies to life.
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Ordered!
@Mary one of the best books about the creation of art that I have ever read.
1
I know from experience that a painting can serve as a good "ground" for another painting, especially when the work you are painting over is in a loosely defined state. You simply see it as a surface of color already there to respond to. Monet didn't need to be out of canvas, or desperate, in reaching for an existing canvas. Since his late paintings are so experimental anyway, isn't it possibly he simply wanted to continue the "play"? Color on color!
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Water Lilies is psychadelic
8
Switching from water lilies to wisteria definitely was a radical shift for Claude. His whole world must has turned upside down to bring this on.
5
Recently the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco had an exhibit titled Monet the Late Years. The exhibit featured multiple large paintings of Wisteria, Water Lillies and The Japanese Bridge. Most exquisite was Water Lillies (Agapanthus) and the entire series of the Weeping Willows. The exhibit explained that it was not that unusual for Monet to paint over canvases.
5
It was challenging to get new canvass and pigments during WW1 when Monet remained at Giverny even as he could hear guns firing in the nearby fighting!
He also reworked canvasses to create paintings meant to be seen in groups. He built larger studios to compare and update the paintings by being able to see them "in the round" as he wanted them to eventually be exhibited.
Monet basically blew out of the limitations of rectangular paintings hung on walls at 90 degrees. Dickering around with his paintings by saying there are other works below is irrelevant and dangerous. These "experts" should not be touching Monet's canvasses! Stop, ladies!
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@BSmith You write "These 'experts' should not be touching Monet's canvasses! Stop, ladies!" Really? And why characterize conservation treatment as "dickering around" , "irrelevant", and "dangerous". In fact, conservation treatment preserves cultural works by identifying and stabilizing vulnerable materials, and authenticating the artist's 'hand' through rigorous scientific and stylistic analyses. Only then are careful and cautious interventions proposed. Changes are considered only after documenting the current state and analyzing the work from many scientific and art historical perspectives - often current states revered as iconic and assumed to be authentic, in fact turn out to be later idiosyncratic additions by other than the original artist. Any conservation changes to the current state are made in consultation and according to ethical guidelines for best practices. Yes, these women are actually educated and experienced experts and because of their intelligent and well informed work Monet's paintings will be studied and enjoyed by generations to come. Why would anyone have a problem with that?
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@BSmith: To say that there are other works below doesn't actually dicker with anything. And if Monet thought it was appropriate to create one painting over another why shouldn't the rest of us appreciate that? It's all part of his art.
18
Monet invented the wig reveal
5
Very interesting breakthrough. The end of the article about Monet's late paintings "collecting dust" in his studio after his death is riveting. Glad they're in proper homes now. Highly recommend a daytrip to Giverny from Paris to visit Monet's house, gardens and lily pond. Then back in Paris, a visit to L'Orangerie to enjoy the water lily wall murals (two rooms, eight panels) as Monet intended them to be experienced.
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@CarolineOC
I visited Monet’s home in Giverny and it was beautiful, serene and inspirational. Visiting L’Orangerie in Paris
was more meaningful and gave me insight into his art on a deeper and more personal level.
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@CarolineOC
i've made the paris-giverny-l'orangerie pilgrimage. in the years to come, i will forget 90+% of the things i've seen and the places i've been in this world, but i will NEVERE forget my journey to discover monet.
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@Coco5
Totally agree. I spent the night in Giverny in an apartment adjacent the church and visited Monet's gravesite on a path on the side of the church. Wonderful to be in the small town where he lived and painted.
13