RECREATING MONET’S GARDEN – PURE FAME MEDIA

RECREATING MONET’S GARDEN

By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger

Photographer: George Whylie

Videographer: Maxine Nolan

We all know that one of the greatest artists of all time was Claude Monet. To own one of his paintings is to be in possession of a magnificent masterpiece.

You could say that Claude Monet was the founder of French impressionism. Gardening was just as much a love for Monet as painting and he has become famous for incorporating his lovely colorful flowers into his works of art. It’s the combination of two strong passions.

It all began when Monet and his family rented a home with a barn, orchards and a small garden back in 1883. Monet turned the gardens into something very special. His paintings began to gain him fame and fortune and Monet went from a renter of this landmark home to an owner. He added on a greenhouse, a second studio and a most spacious building with skylights.

Perhaps Monet is most famous for his garden paintings. His garden was his place of contentment. He first discovered colorful hybrid water lilies in 1899 at the Paris World Fair and fell in love with them. They soon became one of his favorite flowers and he ended up capturing them on canvas again and again for the entire world to admire. Monet’s wealth grew and so did his gardens. He hired seven gardeners to tend the gorgeous flowers of nature.

Monet also traveled to the Mediterranean, Venice and London taking pride in painting landmarks, landscapes and seascapes. His pastels were pure and very pleasing. During World War I, Monet painted a series of weeping willow trees to pay tribute to French fallen soldiers.

As we are transported back to that time and place in history, a certain calm overtakes us. What would it be like to enter Monet’s garden? It is no longer a mystery. The New York Botanical Garden has now recreated Monet’s garden for an exhibit which includes photographs, videos, rare documents and even two of the impressionist’s paintings.

The entrance to the exhibit will leave you in absolute awe. Step through a facade of Monet’s house, salmon walls with green shutters and walk out into a long corridor of flowers. It will take your breath away.

Visitors will have the rare opportunity to see over 150 different varieties of flowers which will change with the seasons from the time the exhibit is on display, May 19th to Oct 21st. What makes this even more unique is the fact that all the flowers seen have been grown from seed by the gardening team at the conservatory.

The goal is to capture the prolific beauty of nature for the world to take in and to forever cherish. Each visitor should feel at one with the art.

Two of Monet’s original paintings are also on display. One is called Irises, dark and daring. The other is Monet’s painting palette, the only one in existence.

Monet was an early adopter of incorporating wildflowers into his garden, so in honor of that, the conservatory has placed brilliant blue delphiniums, pink and white foxgloves, roses, poppies and more intriguing varieties throughout the area. Stand amongst the water lilies and gaze into a world of simple yet natural pleasure.