Monet et L'abstraction at Musée Marmattan

Text: Kay Roberts

In 1976 I walked from Vernon to Giverny, to visit Monet's house and garden, simply curious to see where he had painted the "Nympheas" I had seen couple days before in the Orangerie. Sitting on the verge by the garden fence of chicken wire, I saw a rowing boat half submerged in the lake and the house in a sad state of neglect after the sudden death of Monet's son Jean. I had the idea of writing to the Mairie to ask if it was possible to look after the place; there was no need though - soon after the restoration of Giverny began.

After years of neglect Monet was 'rediscovered' in the 1950's and has continued to grow in popularity ever since. The Musée Marmattan Monet is a beautiful town house in the 16th arrondissement of Paris with an impressive collection of works of Monet, but also of Berthe Morisot, Caillebotte, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Pissarro, Rodin, Sisley, Morisot and Renoir. Impressionist and Post-impressionist work of the highest quality are shown in the perfect domestic setting.

'Monet et L'abstraction' is a special exhibition put together from selected works in the collection alongside contemporary works from the Musèo Thyssen-Bornemisza, set out in 6 sections: Mists and Variation / Effects of Light / Contrasts of Forms / From brushstroke to gesture / In the Garden at Giverny / In the Wake of Monet. It is evident that artists from the mid twentieth century looked at and studied Monet's paintings, and according to one of the curators, Paloma Alarco of the Spanish museum "the triumphant young leaders of American Expressionis took a fresh look at his work. The materiality of his paint, his "all over" technique....". In the exhibition not only American artists of a certain generation, such as Mark Rothko, Sam Francis, Clifford Still, Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, but also European masters, such as Vassily Kandinsky, André Masson, Hans Hofman, Nicolas de Stael and Gerhard Richter, are matched with works of Monet under the 6 headings.

To marry together impressionism and expressionism is a curious but interesting intellectual game, and the term abstraction can, at a pinch, cover them both. Some comparisons work, others are tenuous, all the works selected are good, even great examples of the work by the artist. The first work is Monet's 'Impression, soleil levant' of 1873, an impression: expressionism was about all the elements of painting but mainly excluded the need to portray the actualité of 'things' or landscape.  It is without doubt that Monet's use of paint has influenced many artists, but it is his interpretation of nature that  inspires us, the audience. There are some extraordinary abstract expressionism works in the show, mostly one work from each artist.

Whether the idea of the show leads for a more careful examination of the similarities between the works or simply to an enjoyment of seeing works for the first time, it is worth the visit. Wandering back through the museum collection savouring the Belle Epoque, it did lead me to wonder what those hip New York painters would have made of the setting.

Monet et L'abstraction
Musée Marmattan Monet
2, rue Louis-Boillly, 16ème
Until September 26, 2010
Tue-Sun 11-6

Comments

[Olivia Temple]

This is a wonderful website - thank you!