Works of Claude Monet by Claude Monet – the ‘father’ of the Impressionism, a note on that is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/11/impressionists-by-antonia-cunningham.html where I have thousands of other reviews - 10 out of 10

 

Works of Claude Monet by Claude Monet – the ‘father’ of the Impressionism, a note on that is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/11/impressionists-by-antonia-cunningham.html where I have thousands of other reviews

 

10 out of 10

 

Claude Monet was (still is actually) my favorite painter, I even had my garden at Rosenau (and now  this one in Straulesti) modeled on what he had at Giverny, on a smaller scale, evidently, but trying to get plants, flowers from the list – before he died, he demanded there will be no flowers at his burial, saying morons could cut them from my garden – such as irises, Japanese acer, bamboos, which are now some ten meters high

 

As a child, he was a rebel, however much this sounds like an oxymoron – nonetheless, those I see around are spoiled and allowed to be violent, much more than active babies, they use firecrackers, pee everywhere, the teenagers, not the babies, use the foulest insults, etc. – but he did not go to school, and made…caricatures

He was a prodigy in that field, and he was so good, the teachers, famous folk from Le Havre would buy their own representations, to avoid laughter, then they were exposed in the widow of the shop from which he would buy pencils, colors, where a painter saw them and noticed the talent, talked to the adolescent

 

They lived in Le Havre, where his father was in commerce, selling furniture for ships, so the boy would learn about money, pretty soon he would ask for money for his drawings, when there would be demand from two would be buyers, that notwithstanding, his father would disagree with his option to go into painting

Indeed, for half his life, the future glorious artist would face hardship, and in his young years, he would often be so destitute, he would write multiple letters to one other painter, Bazille, who agreed to buy one canvas for fifty francs paid monthly, telling him that he does not have anything to eat, and no money prospects whatsoever…

 

He would be part of the group of innovative creators, Degas, Sisley, eventually Manet, that would revolutionize art, but not before enduring rejection, contempt, mockery – there was an established Salon, where one could show the works of art, but not before the examination of a special commission which had stringent rules

They would need the subjected canvas to have been drawn first, then colored, it had to be a major subject – say Napoleon, classic legend – and they wanted conservative rules to be obeyed – Gericault was an example of the established star, with money, an apartment in a good area and the new comers will have to wait

 

Edouard Manet caused a scandal when he painted Dejeuner sur l’herbe aka Le Bain or The Bath, with two dressed men and one naked woman sitting on grass, something so outrageous it caused a furor, and Claude Monet was so impressed that he decided to make one of his own, thus upsetting Manet, because of the copycat

The two would become friends, however different their personalities – later, Monet would get rich, have many paintings, some of them with their back to the room, because they were so good he said he cannot make their equal, though he also had the habit of painting with other tableaux turned, so that he can focus

 

Camille Doncieux was his model, but she would give birth to Jean Monet – I wonder if this is the one who gives the name to a high school here, where the offspring of the rich and famous study, in manner of speaking, I am not sure if they do that, it is in one of the poshest places in town – and then they get married

It would be an outré relationship, towards the end, in the meantime, he becomes friends with Ernest Hoschedé, an art dealer who had a chateau, in his good period, and Claude Monet paints some turkeys there, with the small castle in the background (small when compared with Buckingham, not with what you and I have)

 

Alice Hoschede has four children and yet, it seems that she became the lover of the painter, and there is speculation that her youngest may be the result of that affair, and when they come to the end of their money, Ernest declaring bankruptcy, the two families move…together, in the same house, until the dealer abandons his family

Then Camille Monet is diagnosed with uterine cancer, suffers and at the age of only thirty-one dies, nursed by her would be replacement, Alice, and on her death bed, she has the husband alongside, and after she had departed, he has an impulse and makes the portrait of the deceased, kept away for some time…

 

Claude Monet paints the tableau that would give the name of the movement; indeed, it was the contempt of a critic that gave the group the name in mockery and then that was it – I would not progress beyond this much, I love pointillism, Sisley, and then Vincent Van Gogh, but do not like Picasso, the abstract and never mind Damien Hirst

They participate in the Salon des Refuses, initiated by the emperor, and then paintings of Monet reach the USA, the Yankees had won the Civil War, the economy was booming, and the new money would find their way towards these paintings as well, and then they became successful in France, Europe as well, and at the age of fifty, Claude Monet could feel relaxed, finally, he would not have to worry about financial problems anymore

 

He would move with Alice and their six children at Giverny, then they would marry, travel To Venice, where he has a series of wondrous works, Alice dies and he is cared for by her daughter, there is an incestuous air about the situation there, she would marry the second son of Claude Monet, but then move back in at Giverny

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”