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“The mourning never stops, it just changes.” (Edward Albee)

For Claude Monet (1840–1926), the founder of French Impressionist painting, these words are a fitting testament to his lifelong relationship with the female muse, most notably—and most hauntingly—with his first wife, the model Camille Doncieux.

For the esteemed clinical psychologist and art historian Mary Mathews Gedo, Monet and His Muse represents a project twenty years in the making. Artfully interweaving biographical insight with psychoanalytic criticism, Gedo takes us on an exploration of Claude Monet’s conflicted relationships with women, complete with exquisitely researched material never before understood about one of our most popular—and inimitable—artists. Beginning with Monet’s childhood, Gedo delves into his relationships with a distant, unreliable father and his beloved, doting mother—whose death when Monet was just sixteen, the author establishes, inspired a lifetime preoccupation with the sea, its lushly imagined flora, and the figurative landscapes Monet painted to such acclaim.

And then—Camille. Entering Monet’s life when he was still a young man, becoming first his model and then mistress and then—finally—his wife, Camille Doncieux always fulfilled the function of muse, even after her life had ended, as Monet not only painted her one last time on her deathbed, but preserved her memory through the gardens he planted at his home in Giverny. Demonstrating how Monet’s connections with women were exceedingly complex, fraught with abusive impulses and infantile longing, Gedo sensitively uses Monet and Camille as exemplars in order to explore links between artists and muses in our modern age.

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Introduces the life and work of Claude Monet, discussing his early years, life in London, and various parts of France, and development as a painter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Helps fill a critical gap in children's literature
As the mother of a six year-old, I'm grateful for the appearance of this series, The Life and Work of... There aren't many art books for children this age; most are simply too long and involved for young children. This series is filled with large type text, beautiful reproductions, captivating period photos and, most important, a colorful narrative that is sure to appeal to children 4-8. Although my son is quite an accomplished reader for his age, he would never have managed the pronunciation of many foreign words in this text: Monet's wife Camille Doncieux, the Thames River, Rouen, etc. Given the helpful glossary at the end, I can't for the life of me understand why they didn't add a pronunciation guide. Still I won't take a star away from this series for the error, because I believe the book is more profitably shared by parent and child than read on its own. Children will laugh on their own at the sight of the pigeon on Monet's head, but they will need you to help them get more out of the paintings. ... Read more

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The first biography of Monet written especially for young readers. This highly readable text traces Monet's life as a young boy in LeHavre, his studies in Paris, and his eventual achievement of international renown in his forties. 53 illustrations, 33 in full color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Claude Monet
Very informative and enjoyable. I recommend it if your interrested in an introduction of his life. Its also great for young readers. ... Read more

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This book, originally published to coincide with the blockbuster exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995--the most comprehensive retrospective ever assembled of Monet's work--features 161 masterpieces by Monet drawn from public and private collections all over the world, along with an extensive, month-by-month chronology which examines the artist's life and career in absorbing detail. 278 illustrations, 226 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

fantastic Monet book
I have been looking and reading this book for days now. Excellent reference book. I've seen several of his paintings in person and don't know what the negative reviewer meant by poor reproduction. I don't agree.

I was looking for a Monet book that had many of his different paintings. He was very prolific at 2000 plus. This book fit the bill. PLUS it had information about where he painted and some interestingpersonal bits that were very informative. Not a biography b any means but very interesting.

Now I need something like this for Renoir. Please post a follow-up if you have rec's for a good comprehensive Renoir picture" book.

Outstanding book!!
I loved this book!The pictures were wonderful and the readings that wentwith them were as well.Learned many things that I did not know about hisartwork.VERY informative...give it a try, it would make a great giftbook!

Little substance, fair reproductions
Another book on the overblown impressionists. Little commentary and fair reproductions. A perfect book to put on your coffee table with your Renoir coasters. Souveneir book only. ... Read more

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This fully illustrated catalogue for Gagosian Gallery’s Claude Monet: Late Work focuses on important and previously unseen drawings from the artist’s gardens at Giverny.An extensive illustrated catalog, it includes a detailed chronology of Monet's life and exhibitions while at Giverny written by leading Monet scholar Charles Stuckey and a compendium of historical reviews compiled by Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts. The focus of the exhibition is the most important late subjects drawn from his gardens at Giverny-Nymphéas, Le point japonais, and L'allée de rosiers. Aggressively rendered with broad brushwork and unusual color combinations these late paintings stand in marked contrast to the more refined 1909 works, attesting to the modernity of Monet's expanded vision. These paintings are among the most treasured of the artist's long and prodigious career, several of which were never exhibited during the artist's lifetime. ... Read more

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"Gardening was something I learned in my youth. I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers"
- Claude Monet

Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) created a magnificent five-acre garden that he considered to be his greatest artistic achievement. It was restored in 1980 and is now the most visited garden of its size in the Western world. With its spectacular color combinations and distinctive structural elements, the Monet garden at Giverny, France, inspires the dreams of thousands of gardeners.

Award-winning garden writer and photographer Derek Fell has visited Giverny many times and always admired the beauty of its plantings and the subtle balance of colors. After years of carefully studying Monet's design and plantings, he shares the artist's secrets. In The Magic of Monet's Garden, Fell reveals Monet's breathtaking color harmonies and describes how the artist "painted" his living masterpiece. He guides the reader on how to scale down Monet's ideas for the home garden, with attention to:

• Understanding the laws of colors
• Building color harmonies
• Creating innovative combinations
• Recognizing the power of monochromatic plantings
• Using black in the garden
• Working with structure and form
• Building rhythm and surprise
• Capitalizing on sunlight and shadow
• Incorporating water features
• Attracting birds and butterflies.

With 175 color photographs and illustrations and a dozen detailed planting plans, The Magic of Monet's Garden will inspire and instruct home gardeners to create their own versions of Giverny.

Customer Reviews (2)

Beautiful Book!
This is such a lovely book; my little grandaughter is coming to spend the summer with me, & I can't wait to share this with her.As a lover of books AND Monet, this really 'fit-the-bill'! The delivery was ultra-fast & the quality is fantastic.I'm delighted when I'm dealing in finery & excellence~ THANK you!

Beautiful book
This is a must-have book to read to your child.It conveys the wonderment of childhood, nature, colors, and art along with the wonderment of Monet and his love for beauty.The illustrations are outstanding.I love this book. ... Read more

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Linnea has visited Claude Monet's garden! In Paris, she got to see many of his actual paintings. Now she understands what it means for a painter to be called an Impressionist. This innovative art book for children contains full-color photos of many of Monet's famous paintings.
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Customer Reviews (23)

Linnea in Monet's Garden
Engaging story and beautiful illustrations!My third graders loved seeing photos of Monet and learning about his later years.

A dream come true
My father in law gave this to my daughter when she was in grade school. We read it over and over and both loved it. When my daughter was 9 we went with her grandpa to Washington DC to the National Gallery to see as many Monets as she could. Just like Linnea she got close to the paintings and then moved back for perspective. Her dream was to go to Monet's garden.

In 2000 my father in law died suddenly. Still the dream lived on--hers and mine to see Monet's garden. This year, when she graduated from college, she and I took a trip to London and Paris. And we took the train to Vernon and went to Giverny. It was the hottest day I ever remember surviving but I have to say that the beauty of the gardens were beyond our expectations.

While there we lived many "Linnea" moments, including my getting a picture of her on the famous Japanese bridge. It felt like my father in law, Linnea and Monet were with us all day.

Linnea sparked the dream and we learned about art along the way!

Linnea's World
I purchased this book for my daughter and the doll a number of years ago. She loved the story. What was really amazing is that we had an opportunity to visit Paris and then to Monet's Garden. My daughter followed the trail of the book. The author used actual places. We found the small hotel with the portrait of Esmeralda dancing. It is across from Notre Dame. The old tree was there. We finally made the journey to Monet's home and Garden in the Normandy region. It was better than I could have imagined. I recommend the trip to anyone. The house, the flowers, the flowers, the flowers with the bridge and pond. I was amazed at the interweaved willow branch lining on the banks of the stream to prevent erosion. Buy the book and perhaps a dream will come true.

Linnea in Monet's Garden
I bought this book for my granddaughter to accompany a small doll I had bought while visiting Monet's home and garden back in 2001. The book was educational in regard to how he painted as well as entertaining. It was a little long for a 7 and 1/2 year old but she still seemed to enjoy it.

A Wonderful Book
When I was in elementary school, I used to check this book out of the library weekly. I absolutely adored it and still do...It is a great introduction to art and in addition, a look into travel and culture appreciation.

Some of the pictures in this book have stuck with me for years, especially the transition of Monet's Japanese Bridge painting from 1899-1923 when he'd lost most of his eyesight due to cataracts.

If you're looking for a charming book to introduce the idea of art to your children, or you specifically enjoy Monet, this is a great purchase.

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Customer Reviews (7)

not really
Has good information in book but, as the book says ..." Monet's paintings do not reveal his technical procedures"... I bought book used and it was a good purchase.

useful book-where is the rest of the series? paint like van gogh, etc
This book may not be perfect but is is very useful in explaining how Monet may have painted. As the author states, he (or anyone else) doesn't know exactly because Xrays have not discovered underpainting for clues. Mr. Heard does best when he sticks to academics and worst in the visual step by step "copy" paintings which as another reviewer stated look like a 5 year old painted them. No they are not that bad but could have benefitted from either saying that 1) the final example will need many more days (or years) of painting to arrive at an end result or 2) having an expert copyist complete them (and stating #1).

You cannot really expect this book to teach you how to paint like Monet but it does give valuable information on technique, color palette and how to begin an impressionist style painting (just short on the finishing of said painting).

There are some glitches, such as on p.28 we are told that Impressionists did not like to paint on white canvases and instructed to start the copy of "The Beach at Trouville" by covering the white canvas with a blend of Tit. White, Cad. Yellow and Iv. Black to make a warm gray. Then in the next step it is clear that the author did not do this because his next steps are executed on a white canvas.

I am not an art historian but I thought the Impressionists DID use a white canvas rather than a toned one to achieve their clear colors, unmuddied by the brown tones prevalent in the preceding generation. It is an important point that this book has now made confusing.

I would definitely buy this book again and would love to see more painters done in this series. There are no others that I have found. We need Van Gogh, Renoir, etc.

A useful resource book for the study or teaching of the techniques of one of the Impressionists
A good and useful book for both teacher and student.
The background information was well presented and readable, a change from so many heavy academic tomes, a tick here!
Some good analytical and practical exercises. I found that James Heard's own style too strongly evident in the photographic progression of the sample exercises, he is more than a trifle heavy handed and contemporary,to me this is a bit of a problem when demonstrating a style and period that was innately subtle and elegant.
I was also disappointed in the colour replication of the original works when compared to gallery sourced reproductions.

Mongo training tool
Now what do I know? I'm not going to tell you "that's not how Monet did it". I can't fault anything of the authors because we really don't know how Monet painted his masterpieces, nor that of other artists. But, what we can do is explore and dabble and use our own creativity. I took this book at face value and used it as personal training in Impressionist Art. Like when fly fishing, it doesn't matter how ugly the fly is, as long as it catches fish. The same is true with art. You can worry about art schools, materials, style; or you can paint! Of the 10 Monet paintings I'm working toward finishing (I'm adding my own Impression: Sunrise), I have had rave reviews from friends and family. That is a great complement to a novice painter. I even had offers to purchase my art. Gosh, I've never thought of that. This is a workbook that takes you through a good number of Monet's paintings that he has done through his long life. It also tells you the stories behind his stages of life and reasons for the paintings. When you paint, you can think of those stories, and tell others when you explain the work. And, for those of us novices, it gives you a great idea of some difficult concepts, so that you can apply it to your own art. Buy this book, and try it for yourself. You'll be happy.

Monet and other stuff.
This book offers a nice review of Monet's painting methods, though it suffers along with other art books with chapters explaining what is an easel, what is a paintbrush, etc. I suppose if one had never seen any art materials before it would be just the thing, but for most people this is just unnecessary filler. The demonstrations might be great in real life, but the end result, as portrayed in the book anyway, give the impression (no pun intended) of a poorly painted reproduction. If the finished works were of higherquality it might inspire more people to try their hand at a Monet copy; right now it seems to say "Paint this picture this way and you will end up with a picture apparently done by a five-year old". Despite all this, though,here are interesting insights into tone and color as well as technique, so that it makes nice reading for a rainy afternnoon, but I'm not sure I would buy it again.
B.O. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

Gorgeous book.
Wonderful volume of works rarely if ever seen, with fine writing about the times and the man. I think the most intimate view of an artist is through his drawings. The beautiful pastels also reveal a distinctive aspect of the artist's huge talent.

Bought as a present
I bought this as a gift for a Monet fan and it sits on the coffee table now. Its a well done book, with beautiful large images and interpretations.

Following the genius
As a landscape artist, I have studied over and over the angles of his brushstrokes, the juxtaposition of color that defies description. But here, in this book, we find the sketches we know he had to make, the pastels which he loved. The Unknown Monet shows us the foundations, the skeleton, if you will, of the artist's masterworks. He made his fortune with oils, of course. I contend that you cannot say you really "know" Monet without at least an exploration of this book. Highly recommended.

The discovery of a new Monet
This book, the catalogue for a travelling exhibition held in 2007, enables the reader to discover an often overlooked aspect of Monet's art. The drawings and, above all, the pastels shown and explained here demonstrate the artist's mastery of light and color better than his paintings, because they look fresher to us. Some are studies for actual paintings, and others are finished works in their own right. Also described are his many caricatures of the rich and famous of the time, which, to me, were a complete discovery.

A very informative text and high quality reproductions, all contribute to make this book a valuable addition to the literature on the artist.

The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings (Clark Art Institute)
I received my book on Monet's pastels and drawings in EXCELLENT condition and in addition is a simply gorgeous book. I'm an artist history major and I had no idea that Monet drew with pastels.

Thank you for the good price too!

Deirdre Dunne ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Beautiful book
My daughter had a project due, and she was to be Monet. I saw this book on Amazon.com and it said it was Used, well you would not believe it in the least. The pages still creeked when you opened it and the cover and everything about it was just beautiful.
Kuodos to the seller!

Be careful.The editorial reviews are for a different book.
The Editorial reviews for this book are not for the book being sold.They are for a book by Stuckey which has an entirely different ISBN number.Unfortunately, I bought this book based on those reviews.I do not know which book the Customer reviewers were looking at.I suspect the positive reviews are for the Stuckey book and the dismissive review is for the Taschen/Karin Sagner-Duchting book.While I would not be dismissive of this book, it is certainly written only for the general reader and is not the scholarly book described in the editorial reviews.Since that is what I wanted, I am disappointed.

Speaking to the Taschen book.It is fully illustrated, but the reproductions are a little dark and to the brown/orangey side.The text is adequate, but nothing new to anyone who knows Monet.To someone new to the subject it gives an overview of Monet's life and work.

Unfortunately, Amazon does not have an easy way for me to relay this page error to them. I don't want this book, but whose fault is it.I ordered the book that was reviewed.The seller sent the book that was listed.

Amazon's boo-boo. ... Read more

Product Description
In a garden of spectacular beauty in Giverny, France, Claude Monet painted flowers. Dazzled by the light, he painted with rich colors of vermilion, emerald, and violet. His poppies, tulips, irises, and waterlilies have awed the world. In her radiant watercolors, Bijou Le Tord uses Monet's own palette of only eight colors. Her magnificent paintings and poetic words celebrate the extraordinary vision of the beloved impressionist painter, Claude Monet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Celebration of Art
When fall comes, so do the books.It is approximated that almost 2,000 children's books will be printed this fall.Of this mass number, perhaps ahandful--a very small handful-- are actually worth reading to a young childnight after night.Bijou Le Tord's A Blue Butterfly: A Story about ClaudeMonet, is part of this handful.

The book came out in 1995, yet it stillholds my attention and respect.What sets this book apart from otherbiographies about the artist and other children's books is its celebratorynature.Its luminescent art work invites parents and children to revisitthe art and life of Claude Monet.It captures the essence of art in itswarm colors, creating a soft aura of beauty that encloses the reader evenafter the book is finished.

Anybody interested in sharing art with ayoung child or sharing the life of an artist should purchase this book. Not only do readers learn about an early twentieth century artist, but theyalso get to share in the joy of a contemporary artist, Bijou Le Tord.

Monet appreciation for children!
I have always been bedazzled by Monet's painting and his home, Giverny. This book is another wonderful way to share Monet's gifts with youngchildren. As a first-grade teacher, I appreciate the ideas suggested by theteacher below who shared her method for offering Monet toyoung children.An exceptional treasure to enjoy over and over again!

Lovely little book, a great intro to Monet for the young
My 5 yr old daughter and I picked this up at the library and what a find!This is a book of delightful watercolor illustrations of Monet out in the field, in a garden, by the sea.The pictures are so pleasant and veryreminiscent of Monet's work, and the few lines that accompany the drawingsare perfect for young children. I heartily recommend this book.

First Grade Monet
The book is written in the style of a poem.The poem tells a lot about Monet, where he painted and what he painted.The author also painted the illustrations, which are beautiful.She includes Monet in theillustrations.I read this book to a class of first graders and they lovedit.We then attempted to make our own Monet paintings by using our fingertips. (They used their finger tips to cover an entire page with color) Thechildren were inspired by the book and the illustrations. I felt that thebook provided a lot of basic information about Monet and is great learningtool for young children. ... Read more