Shop art print and framed art Le jardin de l'artiste à Giverny by Claude Monet

The story behind the creation of The Artist's Garden at Giverny

To better understand the history of this work, we need to look at Claude Monet's life at the time he decided to begin this series of paintings. In 1883, the artist moved to Giverny, a small village in Normandy...

Monet fell in love with Giverny's peaceful surroundings and the bucolic setting it offered. He then bought a house surrounded by a garden comprising several plots. During the last third of his life, Claude Monet's work was devoted almost exclusively to views of his garden at Giverny. It was in 1900, when the artist reached the age of 60, that he signed this canvas.

From water gardens to the Water Lilies series

Over the years, Monet gradually modified and enlarged his garden, adding multiple plants and flowers. He also created a pond, where he had water lilies introduced.

In 1897, Monet began to devote himself fully to the realization of his famous Water Lilies series. To paint these works, the artist takes as his model the reflections caused by these plants in the water and the variations in light and atmosphere typical of the Norman landscape.

Birth of the artist's garden in Giverny

Le Jardin de l'artiste à Giverny is a logical sequel to Les Nymphéas. Through this new series, Claude Monet seeks to depict the superb environment that surrounds his home and express his immeasurable love for nature and the peaceful scenes he comes into contact with on a daily basis.

Description

The painting depicts a lush garden Two paths create lines of escape, separated by beds of purple flowers. In the background, shrubs with red trunks block the horizon, contrasting with the expanse of water that can be made out beyond the grove.

Color and contrast

The work is characterized by the use of bright, harmonious colors, such as the intense green of the plants and trees, the bluish and pinkish shades of the flowers, or the orange, brown and red touches of the wood and earth. Contrasts between light and shade, warmth and cold, help to accentuate the peaceful, serene atmosphere of the scene.

Brushstrokes and composition

Monet works his canvas with light, fluid brushstrokes, bringing the various elements of the landscape to life. The composition is subtly balanced thanks to the judicious placement of the plant masses. The two avenues are oblique vanishing lines, while the straight-trunked shrubs add verticality. This complementarity of lines guides the viewer's gaze through the different zones of the garden.

From impressionism to abstraction

Until then considered a major exponent of the Impressionist movement, Monet showed great artistic daring with the Artist's Garden at Giverny. Indeed, he gradually detaches himself from the founding principles of Impressionism, tending towards an approach closer to abstraction. Forms become less defined, giving way to a multitude of colors and reflections, the true essence of nature according to the artist.

A testament to Monet's personal evolution

Beyond its purely artistic aspect, The Artist's Garden at Giverny is also a testimony to Claude Monet's life and preoccupations at the time. The canvas is a direct expression of his love for this garden, which he shaped over the years.

Monet and his garden: An inexhaustible source of inspiration

The Artist's Garden at Giverny is just one part of Monet's immense artistic output devoted to gardens and natural scenes. Throughout his career, the French painter produced numerous series and paintings highlighting the flowers, trees and water features that make up this enchanting setting.

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the impressionism style.

« Le jardin de l'artiste à Giverny » is kept at Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France.

Find the full description of Le jardin de l'artiste à Giverny by Claude Monet on Wikipedia.