Monet

The Monet exhibition taking place in fall 2010 at the Grand Palais in Paris has caused an international sensation. In a rapturous review on the front page of The New York Times, Michael Kimmelman says that it gives us a sublime painter whose achievement places him in the company of artists who reveal the world with new vision. This catalogue offers a permanent record of this magnificent art exhibition. 

Claude Monet is one of the most beloved painters in the history of art. His work appeals both to the broad general public and to artists, who are moved and challenged by his achievement over a working life that spanned six decades. With more than 300 illustrations of Monet’s greatest works and accessible essays by leading art historians, this lush volume offers a vivid new perspective on the artist and his work. 

Praise for Monet:

"The biggest art spectacle in Europe this fall . . . it is, believe it or not, the first full-dress overview Paris has staged in decades, the first chance anywhere to see the whole sweep of his work in some time. The French are treating it like a national celebration. . . . The exhibition would have been a box office smash even if it had corralled fewer of Monet's benchmarks. It happens to be ravishing."—Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times

Claude Monet is one of the most beloved painters in the history of art. His work appeals both to the broad general public and to artists, who are moved and challenged by his achievement over a working life that spanned six decades. Fall 2010 is the occasion of the first major international retrospective of this leading French Impressionist painter in more than 15 years, organized by the Musée d’Orsay and the RMN, Paris, which will be a must-see event for art lovers. With more than 300 illustrations of Monet’s greatest works and accessible essays by leading art historians, this lush volume offers a vivid new perspective on the artist and his work.

Publishers Weekly

"What would be the point of a retrospective if it were not an invitation to take a fresh look?" asks Guy Cogeval, president of Paris's Orsay and Orangerie museums in this thematically organized and splendidly illustrated catalogue of the first major Monet retrospective in 15 years (currently on exhibit in Paris). The catalogue provides inventive, insightful perspectives on the artist's work and life by noted art historians and Orsay curators. House argues, for instance, that Monet's emphasis on his "uniquely personal, subjective sensation" unified his diverse subject matter. A fascinating essay links Monet's last works with Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West; another is an incisive study of "reproduction" and "oeuvre" in the works of Monet and Roy Lichtenstein. And there is a beautifully illustrated exploration of the origin and development of his "series" process. This visually stunning and analytically innovative collection ends with a thoughtful photo essay on Monet "the man," by art critic Philippe Piguet, who is a direct descendant of the artist. 300 color illus. (Oct.)

Joseph Baillo is a principal at Wildenstein & Co., Laurence Bertrand-Dorléac is a professor at the Institut des Sciences Politiques de Paris, John House is Walter H. Annenberg Professor at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, Laurence Madeline, Sylvie Patin, Sylvie Patry, and Anne Roquebert are curators at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and Richard Thompson is a professor at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.