Monet’s muse

Rajesh Krishan visits the village of Giverny in France, famous for impressionist painter Claude Monet’s home and gardens, which were also the subject of his paintings

Self-Portrait with a Beret by Monet

FRENCH and art are synonymous with each other. French people’s passion for art is probably the only thing that surpasses their passion for ‘men in blue’ (French football team). Whether it is a public building, sidewalks, museum, trains, buses everywhere in France one can see the manifestation of their deep love for art.

Not just art but artists too are revered. Many small villages have found fame because of their association with artistes. Giverny is one such place. It is a small village in Normandy, where Claude Monet, the famous painter who founded the Impressionist School, lived for 43 years. His house and his gardens, and the village of Giverny, which were also his subject matter, attract lots of visitors each year from all over the world, as well as many painters. This medieval village abounds in archaeological sites, beautiful castles, wonderful Norman-period gardens and museums. Summer is the main tourist season, when flowers are in bloom.

The charming rural home and gardens of Claude Monet were restored in 1980. The house has now a museum. There is a separate entrance fee for the house or the gardens. Immediately after the entrance, there is a large gift and souvenir shop that has a huge collection of literature on Monet.

The house has a big, comfortable common room and a yellow and blue dining room. Throughout the house there are a great many Japanese prints. The kitchen, with its blue and white tiles, the copper pots and the light and dark blue trim on the windows, is impressive.

The outside of the house is painted green with pink doors. In front of the house, hundreds of red ivy-leafed pelargoniums bloom in the window boxes, framed at the sides`A0and base by tall pink roses above purple flowering lavender`A0borders. Near to the steps`A0of the house, a bed of hundreds of`A0red geraniums greets visitors with a blaze of`A0bright joyous colour.

After the house, the famous gardens are next. Monet had created two different kinds of gardens at Giverny: the Clos Normand and the Water Garden.

The Clos Normand lies in front of the house. Covering almost three acres, it is a riot of colours, full of flowers. More than 100, 000 plants are replaced each year in this garden. A careful arrangement of colour, harmony and contrast, the flowers change with the seasons in the Clos Normand, while it keeps its colours and brightness intact.

The famous water lily pond lies on the other side of the road in the Water Garden. In contrast to Clos Normand, asymmetry rules here. The Water Garden is full of winding paths. It seems inspired by the Japanese gardens whose prints Monet collected avidly. There is the famous Japanese bridge, subject of many a Monet painting. The garden has many smaller bridges, weeping willows, a bamboo wood and above all the famous nympheas, which bloom all summer long. The gardens that one sees at Giverny today are exactly as Monet planned them, using the same types of roses and herbaceous plants that were known in his day.

While seeing the gardens one realises that never before had a painter so shaped his subjects in nature before painting them. In a way, Monet created his works twice. It was fascinating to learn from a curator of the garden that Claude Monet did not like organised nor constrained`A0gardens. He bought young plants at great expense. He married flowers according to their colours and left them to grow rather freely. Many other great artists like Camille Pissarro, Paul Cezanne, Mary Cassatt, Theodore Robinson have painted in these gardens and loved it.

In present times, too, painting in Monet’s gardens is a many artists’ dream. It’s a unique opportunity for them as Giverny`A0is one of the longest-operating artists’ workshops in France. There are many sites in the village, made famous by both French and American impressionist painters.

The other main attraction of the village is the, Mus`E9e d’Art Am`E9ricain or the Museum of American Art. This beautiful, modern museum (opened in 1992) features one of the largest collections of works by famous American impressionists. It is devoted to American artists who followed Monet to Giverny. Monet and his garden had a great influence on American artists of his day. This bright, modern gallery — with a good but small Mary Cassatt section — is well explained in English. The museum (same price and hours as Monet’s home) is open from the 1^st April 1 to October 31 from 11 am to 6 pm.

For lovers of art and nature, this little spot in Normandy is a must-visit. For gardeners, this colourful, flowering monument to Monet is heaven. For an average tourist this relatively compact area offers so much variety, so much beauty and so many treasures all in one package.

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