In my last post, I wrote about our recent trip to Paris and promised to share some more details of our adventures there.
One of my favourite Paris galleries is the Museé Marmottan Monet. Housing the world’s leading collection of work by Claude Monet, as well as an extensive collection of paintings by other famous artists, it is an art-lover’s haven. We had the good fortune to visit during their exhibition Monet The Collector. As well as being a prolific painter himself, Monet was also a keen collector of art. After Monet’s death in 1926, his personal collection was broken up and largely forgotten. But after meticulous research and investigation, the Marmottan was able to put back together what they describe as ‘this scattered collection’.
Oh my, what an amazing treat it was to see all these amazing works of art together. Here are a couple of my favourites.
Paul Cézanne, Neige fondante à Fontainebleau:
Paul Cézanne, Nature morte, pot à lait et fruits:
It was also such a pleasure to see some of the prints from Monet’s famous collection of Japanese wood cuts:
And, of course, it was lovely to spend time with some old Monet friends….
…., as well as discovering some new ones. I had not seen this painting before (Champ de Tulipes en Hollande), but it went straight into my list of Monet favourites:
I love the fresh treatment of the tulips, the colours in the sky, everything about it really. Just look at this extract – such beauty. And those marks!
Here’s another example. The full painting of Les Agapanthes…
…and a couple of points of detail. Gorgeous!
Let me finish with a few shots of the Marmottan’s galleries dedicated to Monet’s work (complete with Hub very kindly carrying my coat!):
I could quite happily move in! 🙂
*title quote by Thomas Jefferson
LEAPING LIFE 
Beautiful artworks!
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Thank you so much – glad you like them 🙂
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We have a Monet in the gallery where I volunteer whcih is clearly influenced by his love of Japanese Art, so it is fascinating to see the works that lay behind that influence.
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How wonderful – do you know the name of the painting? I would love to see it. 🙂
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It is The Church at Varengeville and you can see a reproduction if you go to barber.org.uk and enter Monet into the search box. It is the last of a series depicting the same scene at different times of the day; this one is at sunset. The placement of the trees is very much influenced by Japanese drawings.
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fabulous – thank you for taking the time to share this info. Hub and I sometimes visit Birmingham to attend NEC events, so I will be sure to factor in a trip to The Barber next time! 🙂
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If you let me know when you’re coming and I’m free I’ll take you round the gallery.
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Oh how marvellous Ann – thank you so much! Will be sure to be in touch in due course. 🙂
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Wow some of them are huge. We usually know the most famous paintings by Monet or Cezanne. It is good to see others too. Great Gallery!
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It’s a must visit if you ever manage to get that trip you mentioned…! 🙂
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I would happily move in too. I really love the background wall colours. Am I correct in thinking the wall colours match those found in Monet’s own home???
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Not sure about Monet’s home but completely agree with you about the backgrounds – the all-round curation of these galleries is magnificent. 🙂
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So glad you were there so you could share so much of it with us.
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These paintings are fabulous! Thank-you so much for sharing your visit to the gallery with us, Liz! I recognise a few of these paintings and am pleased to be introduced to the others. I love the ‘Field of Tulips’! The last time I spent some time in Paris (apart from passing through) was in 1981!! We did visit Monet’s garden while on a holiday in Normandy in 1999 and that was wonderful. We enjoyed the tour of his house but my lasting memory of that is my two-year-old younger daughter nipping under the rope and scrambling up onto Monet’s lovely pale yellow silk covered chaise longue!
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I have never been to Givenchy and in some ways would love to go, although I fear that these days it would be too busy to be able to enjoy it. But how lovely to be able to see Monet’s work and that of the other artists relatively easily. 🙂
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I hear it is very crowded indeed at Givenchy now. We went at the end of October all those years ago and it was very peaceful.
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It sounds like a lovely memory to have.
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Just stunning. I adore those woodcuts!
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Thanks Sandra – and yes, those woodcuts are delicious!
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I am reading this over coffee at Starbucks this morning. And I know, if I just try I will be able to fit myself through the screen of my iPad, like Alice, and come directly over to this marvelous place. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary moment!!
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How wonderful that would be! So great to have your company as always 🙂
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We went to a show in Boston last year that focused on Matisse as a collector. It was fascinating because what they did, in part, was show how his collection of textiles and ceramics and other things became props in his work. The Monet tulip painting is new to me, too–it really is spectacular! And I like that the colors are more saturated than some of his work.
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That sounds really interesting. I think Matisse was so incredibly creative and I love his work. I was fascinated to read this article recently about his beloved ‘chocolate pot’: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-story-one-matisses-most-painted-objects
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Yup! The chocolate pot was there! It was really cool to see these decorative pieces and the ways they turned up in his work. I love Matisse!
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