What Makes a Monet a Monet?

Children's Literature

Nearly four dozen full-color images make this art book a visual delight. Easily comprehendible text makes the book a valuable learning tool. For approximately seventy years, Monet focused his creative talents on capturing a moment on canvas. He might paint the same scene many different times, paying attention to the unique aspects of environment and light at each particular moment and trying to capture those elements in paint. His subject matter changed during the course of his lifetime, but Monet's method of painting remained much the same, a technique he inadvertently named "Impressionist." Mühlberger provides a thorough analysis of twelve of Monet's most famous paintings in this book. He analyzes line, color, subject matter, and more, in a manner that is both accessible and complete. Readers should be able to recognize Monet's works easily after reading this book. 2002, The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Viking,
— Heidi Hauser Green

Carolyn Phelan

Each volume in this new series introduces an artist and his work. As the titles imply, Muhlberger discusses the idiosyncratic elements of picture-making that signify an artist's style, but this comes only after the presentation of biographical material and an analysis of many paintings. The art is beautifully reproduced in full color and intelligently discussed in terms of technique, composition, meaning, historical background, and the conventions of the times. "Monet", for example, begins with a few pages on his family, his training, and his goals as an artist. Then, in a series of three- to five-page sections, the book introduces individual subjects and paintings chronologically, discussing the pictures as well as what moved Monet to paint the poppy field at Argenteuil, Gare Saint-Lazare, sunflowers, haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, and the water lilies at Giverney. The final two pages summarize "what makes a Monet a Monet." Although the grade range above indicates a likely readership for the series, anyone who wants a basic introduction written without condescension should enjoy these beautifully designed books. Also they are good choices for school "picture persons."