People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it is necessary to understand, when it’s simply necessary to love.~ Claude Monet
Monet’s family in the garden at Argentuil
Colour is my daylong obsession, joy and torment. ~ Claude Monet
Every day I discover more and more beautiful things, it’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything my head is bursting with it. ~ Claude Monet
John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Claude Monet hard at work on a painting.
The richness I achieve comes from Nature, which is the source of my inspiration.~ Claude Monet
I have no desire other than a close fusion with Nature and I desire no other Fate than to have worked and lived in harmony with her laws. ~ Claude Monet
My life has been nothing but a failure. ~ Claude Monet
I perhaps owe becoming a painter to flowers.~ Claude Monet
the armitage effect 
Monet is magical indeed – as is the man who brought him to life on screen. Right from the first moments of that series I was enthralled, not only by Richard but the whole production. There is something about the light in that part of the world that the series revealed to us. I don’t think it would have had the same impact if it had been filmed any other place than the actual locations. I know it won’t happen for me but I’d love to visit Giverny and be in Monet’s outdoor “studio”.
BTW – I finally remembered who has my Impressionists DVD’s! Can relax now but I think in the future I will have to have duplicates of everything I have of Richard’s or else I don’t loan them out!! I get withdrawal symptoms if I can’t play the DVD’s when I’m in the mood for them. (When am I ever NOT in the mood for some Richarding!) It’s really not the same watching them bit by bit on YT. 🙂
I really enjoy not only working with Richard’s image as Monet but looking back through Monet’s paintings and reading his quotes. I suspect RA did a lot of the same when he was prepping for the role. I also very much want to visit Giverny and see the house and garden.
Monet loved gardens so much and planted a lot of flowers simply because he enjoyed their beauty before he ever started painting them. I think his love of and appreciation for nature really shows in his paintings. And yes, the light makes so much difference.
I just don’t go the YT route much. With my slower connection, it’s such a pain having to let everything buffer. And it’s one thing to download a video blog or fan vid, but when i start downloading entire shows, it takes a lot of time and space on my hard drive. So I end up opting for the DVDS once they come out. Glad you figured out who had your DVDs. 😉
I think Richard did a lot of research for this one, too. The man has a garden, in London of all places, where it’s not exactly a usual feature; it’s something he would have to want. If he went to Giverny, as it looks like he did in “The Impressionists”, I’m sure that the garden informed his performance as much as the paintings. Richard, Monet’s paintings, garden — so much beauty concentrated in these images.
It seems like a natural component of the man who likes to nourish and nurture. 😀
I wonder what made him say his life was nothing but a failure? That quote perplexed me a little… I’d love to go to Giverny as well and also to Etretat…*sigh*
As I recall, it was one of his difficult times when he wasn’t finding the success he desired as a painter and he felt quite a bit of despair. 😦
I’ve started planning our visit back to Britain for next year and am trying to talk hubby into a side trip to France. I’d love to see Giverny. *sighs with Judit*
Hey Mezz! I’m going to Britain next year – well probably only to Scotland. 😉 How exciting would it be if we could actually meet up?? 😀
That would be great if you could meet up.
Once you’ve spent the money for the plane fare, you might as well make the side trip if you have enough time.
I would try to work it out if I could, Mezz. It looks so beautiful. *sigh*