I, Claude Monet Program Notes and Research

Notes taken from 'I, Claude Monet' (Exhibition On Screen: I, Claude Monet, 2017), a documentary presenting an intimate, personal account of Monet through the 2500 letters he wrote during his lifetime. I thought it would be useful to document this for my contextual essay, looking at his intentions and aspirations to link to my theme.

Impression, Sunrise, 1872

I, Claude Monet

• Born in 1840 in Paris, moved to Le Havre, near the Normandy coast. He has born unruly and didn’t like rules, hated the idea of being trapped inside for 4 hours a day at school. Longed to be out in nature and exploring the countryside.
• Soon became known as a caricaturist, signed them as Oscar Monet. 
• Met Eugene Boudin and painted with him outside at the framers where he exhibited work. 
• From a young age, he was fascinated with sketches, through them he realised this was what he wanted to do and thought about painting. ‘Learn to draw well’ he was told.
• Loved the paintings in Paris at the time and was told to join a painting studio that specialised in figure painting to make use of his talents ‘you can never learn too much'.
• The documentary was narrated in letters between him and Eugene, of which he wrote about 2500 through his life. All full of emotion and inner-thinking's, no illusions of what he was going through as they were very honest, showing how troubled he was.
• Driven to paint more, the idea of painting outside he felt he could capture entire scenes- a race to get them down on paper before they vanish. A never-ending issue with painting from 'Plein air'.

Towing a Boat, 1864

• ‘It’s on the strength of reflection and observation that one finds a way, we must delve unceasingly’ 
• 1866, Made 800 francs, the first notable success in his life, making a living, a huge community of artists at that time. Came into some money issues when his baby with Camille was due, needed 150 francs as he was told he’s need to make more money to stay
• Tormented by money problems, pained by the mother of his child struggling to look after his newly born son, Jean Monet. Turned out of the inn he was in, refused help from his family 
• 1868 things got better, loved the country in the winter and summer, hoped for success. Cottage for his family, watching his son grow.

Boulevard des Capucines, 1873 

• Turned out of the house again, feeling lost with so many plans, had to pay debts and has another baby he struggles to pay for. Losing hope after turning 38 and finding it hard to see it getting any better. Unable to live in all the places he loves in the countryside, feels like a burden on his friends when his wife is ill 
• His artwork tells a different story, shows the tranquillity of the coastline and countryside while his mind is troubled 
• The business was going well, selling paintings in 1890. Series of grain stacks, fighting against the sunset and fading daylight, looking for the same light spread over everything. 
• City living in 1892, found it hard being in a city, lived in a flat opposite the cathedral. Saw the beauty in all things, lots of studies of the cathedral at different hours. Dreamed of the cathedral collapsing on him, he’d given up everything for this and felt physically and mentally drained. 
• Same idea with Waterloo bridge in 1900, set on getting it perfect, reflecting the change in daylight. He found the changing conditions with mist and fog in London beautiful. Sunsets with skies on fire. Inspired by a new culture and skyline.

‘I’m entirely absorbed in my work, these landscapes of water and reflections have become an obsession.'

-Claude Monet

Wheatstacks, 1891

Wheatstacks at the end of the day, 1891

'Having a tough time painting these giant stacks of wheat. I guess I assumed I’d blow through them no problem because they’re just giant stacks of wheat and I’m a professional painter, but getting all the wheat to look good is tough.'

-Claude Monet, 1891

• 1911 writing to Paul to tell him his beloved wife is about to die. Sad months reading his wife’s letters, struggled to find a way out of the pain. 
• Struggled with cataracts, couldn’t see very well but longed to keep painting. Painting became an obsession, slaved away all day. ‘Enslaved to my work’, devoted everything to painting striving for perfection but didn’t want to be compared to the masters of the past. He was the last survivor of his group. 
• 1922 almost blind and having to abandon work altogether, still felt healthy, went to Paris for a consultation to see what could be done. Went ahead with the operation but it doesn’t work, left worse than before. Received glasses from Germany which worked, delighted to recover his sight. 
• Offered his panels to the orangery as they were as he didn’t manage to finish them. He died soon after. 

 

Other than admiration for his paintings, I didn't know much about Monet's life before watching this. I found it incredibly sad hearing of his struggles as judging by his paintings and subject matters, many of them don't reflect this trauma. It's remarkable that he managed to paint so much when faced with illness, the death of his wife and money troubles forcing him to leave Paris and multiple homes. Usually, through an artist's work, they present a window into their lives and emotions however, after watching this, I feel like his paintings represent what he wanted in life and the idea of trying to capture the perfect light or composition through drawing scenes multiple times reflects how he felt time moved to quickly and he didn't have time to explore everything he wanted to. Even to his death at 86- which is an achievement in itself for the time- his ambitions to paint were as strong as they were when he moved to Paris as a teenager. 

I've been meaning to watch this since seeing his paintings in The National Gallery so I'm glad I got around to watching it and it's inspired me to draw more outside, taking inspiration from my surroundings into my work. It makes you realise the importance of having time to draw outside and capture a landscape before it disappears.

References

Exhibition On Screen: I, Claude Monet. 2017. [DVD] Directed by P. Grabsky. United Kingdom: Seventh Art Productions.

Art-monet.com. 2022. Claude Monet Hauling a Boat Ashore, Honfleur 1864 in high definition on - art-monet.com. [online] Available at: <http://art-monet.com/1850_11.html> [Accessed 1 March 2022].

Reiss, S., 2015. A Few Thoughts from Monet on Those Stacks of Wheat. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/a-few-thoughts-from-monet-on-those-stacks-of-wheat> [Accessed 1 March 2022].