Monet The Triumph of Impressionism

Along with J.M.W. Turner, no artist strove harder than Claude Monet (1840-1926) to capture light on canvas. Of all the Impressionists, he was the man of whom Cézanne said "only one eye, but my God, what an eye!", the man who remained utterly loyal to the principle of absolute fidelity to visual sensation, painting directly from the object.

It could be said that Monet reinvented the possibilities of colour and that, whether it was his early interest in Japanese prints, his period as a conscript in the glowing light of Algeria or his personal relationship with the most important painters in the world, Monet was a painter of the most important painters of his time.Whether through his early interest in Japanese prints, his period as a conscript in the bright light of Algeria or his personal relationship with the most important painters of the late 19th century, what Monet created during his long life changed forever the way we perceive both the world and its associated phenomena. The high point of his explorations was the late series of water lilies painted in his own garden at Giverny, which, in its turn towards almost total formlessness, is really the origin of abstract art.

This biography does full justice to this most exceptional and profoundly influential artist, and offers numerous reproductions and archival photos along with detailed and accurate commentary.

About the author:

Daniel Wildenstein (1917-2001) was an art historian and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. From 1939, he was director of the Wildenstein Galleries in New York, London and Tokyo, and later editor of several international publications, including the journal Arts (1956-1962) and the Gazette des Beaux-Arts (from 1963). He co-founded the Fondation Wildenstein in 1970 (renamed the Wildenstein Institute in 1984) and promoted numerous exhibitions with international impact. Daniel Wildenstein also edited catalogues raisonnées of various artists of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. He was a world authority on Impressionism and published catalogues of the complete works of Gauguin, Manet and Monet.

Publisher: Taschen