Giverny (Giverny listen)) is a village in Upper Normandy, which is primarily known as the location of Claude Monet Museum(Claude Oscar Monet) (1840–1926): his estate and beautiful garden. IN Giverny many interesting attractions, most of which are in one way or another connected with the name of Claude Monet and with impressionism: in addition to the actual Monet's house and garden, in the vicinity of Giverny you can see Museum of Impressionism, bronze bust of Monet, as well as an old church with the burial of the artist and members of his family. In addition, there are a number of hiking trails through the picturesque area of Giverny: these routes allow you to better get acquainted with the beautiful nature of this region ( cm. Giverny plan).
But still, despite the diversity Giverny sights, the main place of pilgrimage remains, of course, Claude Monet's estate.
In this flower-filled refuge of the “father of impressionism,” you can better understand Monet’s work: absorb the sources of his inspiration with all your senses and see how “living pictures” appear before your eyes - scenes from familiar Monet paintings. You can even imagine that here he is, alive, walking among us.
Home and especially Claude Monet's garden are also a work of art: the artist devoted a good half of his life to the creation and arrangement of these flower beds, ponds, lawns, which became for him a real open-air workshop. Today every corner of this romantic place maintained in excellent condition, as during Monet's lifetime. Fortunately, this neatness does not strike the eye: shady corners with dense thickets and a pond with jugs leave a completely natural impression of the “creative disorder” of nature. And you will probably not find such a sea of flowers in any botanical garden...
You envy Claude Monet, who had the opportunity to track this change of seasons day after day and, like a true impressionist, reflect his impressions of this variability on canvases. Even in winter these places are charming, although they are closed to tourists ( cm. museum opening hours) (see photos winter landscapes of Giverny maybe, but autumn - ).
In this amazing sunny place, where it seems there is never bad weather, you never tire of admiring the variety of colors and get a taste for life in general, in all its manifestations (as you know, the life-loving Monet not only painted pictures and was fond of gardening, but also loved to eat well , smoke a pipe - in general, I did not deprive myself of pleasure).
We We recommend a trip to Giverny not only for lovers of the work of this sunny artist, but also for everyone who loves nature, flowers and landscape art, and simply wants to take a pleasant walk and learn to enjoy life (such beauty must have a therapeutic effect!).
It is worth mentioning right away that as such paintings by Claude Monet you will not see in Giverny (not counting the not very high-quality copies made to recreate the “working environment” in the workshop). The best place to go for paintings is in Paris. Orsay Museum and Marmottan Museum, which has the most extensive collection of works by Claude Monet in the world. Museums are, of course, good, but only in Giverny can you come into contact with the life and work of the Impressionists so directly and vividly. And for this it is worth coming here. No wonder they call Giverny a living monument to impressionism. Taking a walk through the artist's garden and house, you will see how the most famous paintings great impressionist.
Let's start with the history of Claude Monet's house and garden in Giverny.
1 Claude Monet in Giverny: the history of the estate and garden
1.1 The garden as an artist's palette
Claude Monet settled in Giverny with his second wife Alice Hoschede and numerous children at the end of April 1883 and occupied this famous long house with a pink plastered facade and green shutters (the colors were chosen by Monet himself) until his death in 1926. That is, in total, the artist spent 43 years here - almost half of his life.
Interestingly, Monet noticed the picturesque village of Giverny while passing by on a train (the railway line is now closed). It was then that he decided to move to this area and rented a house, and with it the adjacent plot.
By 1890, Monet had saved enough money to buy the estate. He managed to say goodbye to material difficulties and establish a comfortable bourgeois life, devoting himself to art. Having become the full owner of the estate, he expanded house(so that it began to occupy 40 meters in length), enlarged the windows, painted the shutters in an unusual green color for those times (it was usually customary to paint them gray), covered the facade with wild grapes and began to arrange a magnificent flowering garden on the site of a former orchard.
Monet immediately replaced the coniferous trees surrounding the central alley with roses, and ordinary fruit trees with sakura. He completely moved the vegetable garden to the far part of the garden, away from view: the impressionist was not going to tolerate anything but flowers under his windows!
From the very first year of his stay in Giverny, Claude Monet began sowing and growing flowers. The villagers were amazed by this passion and enthusiasm. One day in 1891, a farmer threatened to remove haystacks from his field just as Monet began his famous series of paintings. Then the artist paid him so that the peasant would give him the opportunity to finish the work.
The following year, when Monet began the Poplars series, a similar incident occurred. He had to pay again, this time from a nearby carpentry shop who wanted to cut down the trees! The artist’s strengthened well-being, fortunately, allowed him not to be too strapped for money.
Gardening The painter was fascinated no less than by the play of colors on the canvases. Like a true artist, Monet approached the design of the garden with imagination and taste, perceiving this cluster of flower beds as more than just “ green spaces“, but as your favorite creation, as a beautiful nature that you want to depict in paintings again and again. In spring, summer, autumn - this garden is always full of bright colors and asks to be put on canvas. “As soon as a flower fades, I destroy it and replace it with a new one. Flowers cannot grow old,” Monet admitted to a journalist in 1926.
The artist's tastes were very diverse: Monet liked roses, tulips, sunflowers, dahlias, gloxinias, irises, nasturtiums... He grouped plants by color, allocating rectangular arrays or borders for them. Everything in his garden was subordinated to color and artistic organization. The artist’s wife Alice once said: “The garden is his workshop, his palette.”
For Monet, flowers were a source of inspiration, and his passion for floriculture was shared by many friends, including the writer Octave Mirbeau, the politician Georges Clemenceau, the collector and artist Gustave Caillebotte, and the actor Lucien Guitry. Monet's knowledge in the field of horticultural art increased over the years, and his library was enriched with encyclopedic works. The artist became interested in botany and enjoyed exchanging plants with Clemenceau and Caillebotte. He was always on the lookout for rare varieties of flowers and was willing to buy them at high prices. “All the money goes to my garden,” he said.
Clemenceau wrote: “With amazing subtlety, the artist of light remade nature in such a way that it helped him in his creativity. The garden was an extension of the workshop. A riot of colors surrounds you on all sides, which is good gymnastics for the eyes. The gaze jumps from one to another, and from the constantly changing shades the optic nerve is more and more excited, and nothing can pacify this delight.”
In Giverny, the artist felt most comfortable, receiving incredible pleasure from communicating with the garden. During his absence from the estate, which sometimes lasted for several weeks, Monet thought about the garden, yearned for it and gave orders and advice on its maintenance in letters: “Sort the dahlias by color, buy chestnut tree supports for the rose bushes, sow the lawns , propagate by nasturtium cuttings...” As in painting, Claude Monet strove for perfection in arranging his garden. If at first his children helped him in his work, he soon began to use the services of professionals. By the end of his life, Monet had a dozen gardeners working for him! With their help, he even began breeding hybrids. This is how a new variety of iris was obtained, called Blanche, as well as the poppy variety Monetti and the dahlia Digunnez.
Other interesting information about the history of the Norman Garden can be found.
Claude Monet died on December 5, 1926 Giverny and was buried in the local cemetery adjacent to the ancient church of St. Radegund.
1.2 Paintings painted in Giverny: such different water lilies
Many were created in Giverny famous works Claude Monet, such as " " (1887), " " (1897-1898), " " (1899), " " (1900), "Water Lilies" (1916-1919), "Japanese Bridge" (1918-1919) and many other paintings depicting landscapes of the estate and especially the Japanese bridge and water lilies on the pond in Giverny.
Over time, these images become more and more abstract. Experimenting with light, the effects of fog and reflection, Monet, already in the 1890s, began to blur forms and move away from the realistic manner of reflecting the world. It is not without reason that art critics consider him one of the founders abstract art. Exceptional freedom of execution, a revolutionary concept of pictorial space and an emotional purity that comes especially from his later works, formed the basis of many modern artistic directions, such as lyrical abstraction, action painting and tachisme. Retiring to Giverny, Monet carried out original experiments that ran counter to the searches of Cézanne or Picasso, who turned towards geometric art.
Always interested in highlights, reflections and reflections, the artist painted less and less the flowers themselves and more and more their images in water, creating a kind of inverted world, transformed by a fluid medium. In his countless images of an overgrown pond with water lilies, Monet finally abandons form, trying to convey only the sensation of elusive light.
Since the 1910s, the work of Monet, who at that time began to develop cataracts, especially clearly approaches abstractions. It is not surprising that his paintings became a source of inspiration for artists who abandoned figurative art. For example, Wassily Kandinsky was fascinated by one of Monet's Haystack paintings and realized that art does not have to depict a real object, but can still convey strong emotion.
Despite all these significant influences, the general public did not understand the late Monet, who betrayed impressionism. When in 1927, a year after the artist’s death, large-format decorative canvases from the series “ Water lilies”, in which it was no longer possible to distinguish the outlines of specific colors, the audience remained indifferent.
These works came to fruition only in the 1950s, when Jackson Pollock and other American artists recognized Claude Monet as the “grandfather of abstract art.”
1.3 The further fate of the house and garden. Claude Monet Foundation
After the death of Claude Monet, his only surviving son Michel became the heir to the estate in Giverny ( Michel Monet). He also inherited the paintings in the house and his father's large collection of Japanese prints. However, Michel was not at all attracted to this family nest. The maintenance of the house and garden was taken over by the artist’s stepdaughter and at the same time daughter-in-law, Blanche Monet Hoschedé ( Blanche Monet Hoschedé), daughter of Monet's second wife Alice and widow of the artist's eldest son, Jean. She tended the garden with the help of head gardener Lebret. After Blanche's death in 1947, the garden was almost completely abandoned, and nature began to take over.
In 1966, as a result car accident Michel Monet died. The artist’s son, who had no heirs of his own, bequeathed all the property and paintings stored in Giverny to the French Academy of Fine Arts (Academie des Beaux Arts). Director of the Academy and curator of the Parisian Museum Marmottan Jacques Carlu (Jacques Carlu) did not have sufficient financial resources to implement a full-fledged restoration program. However, thanks to his efforts, it was possible to repair the roof and preserve Japanese prints from Monet’s collection, and transport the remains of the painting collection to the Marmottan Museum.
After Carlu's death in 1976, the Academy entrusted the rescue of Giverny to the chief custodian of Versailles, who became famous thanks to the successful restoration of this palace, 64-year-old Gerald van der Kemp (Gé rald Van der Kemp). By this time, Monet’s house in Giverny was already in a deplorable state, ruin and desolation ruled all around. The famous “Norman flower garden” was filled with thorny bushes and weeds, many trees died, glass in the greenhouses was broken, lattice fences and supports were covered with rust... The Japanese bridge in the “water garden” was rotting in the black water, and the banks were destroyed by rodents. The furniture in Monet's house was broken and soaked in moisture. His first workshop was overgrown with grass...
The funds allocated by the Academy of Fine Arts and the Department of Eure were clearly not enough, and then his second wife, the American Florence ( Florence Russell Bennett Harris) called out. They turned to American patrons with a request to help them save Giverny. A significant role was played by the extensive connections that the “socialite” Van der Kemp had in high society around the world, as well as the assistance of his wife. Philanthropists were immediately found, in large numbers, and very generous at that: thanks to the donations of these patrons, it was possible to carry out all the necessary work on the restoration of Claude Monet’s house and garden without any problems.
Work continued for three years. The house, workshops, furniture and engravings were restored. Gerald Van der Kemp and young head gardener Gilbert Vahe ( Gilbert Vahé) managed to revive the garden. Dead trees were cut down, flower beds and paths were laid out, and the Japanese bridge was recreated exactly as the original. It was even possible to save the wisteria planted by Claude Monet. The shore of the pond was reinforced with a sheet pile wall. The surviving archives, countless photographs and memories of those who visited the estate helped to recreate the layout of the garden and identify Monet’s favorite plants. Since some plant varieties no longer existed by that time, they were replaced by others that were as close as possible. Finally, before the garden began to receive visitors, the alleys were widened and concreted.
In 1980 it was created Claude Monet Foundation, and in the same year, June 1, Monet's house and garden in Giverny opened to the public for the first time. Very soon this place became popular among tourists, the number of which grew more and more every year, and travelers from all over the world began to come here. Today, Claude Monet's estate in Giverny is the second largest attendance tourist attraction Normandy after the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. From April 1 to November 1 ( cm. museum's work schedule) more than 500 thousand come here every year who want to see the place where Claude Monet lived.
Gerald van der Kemp died in 2001 at the age of 89 in Giverny and was buried there. Van der Kemp's business was continued until 2008 by his widow, who became the custodian of the Claude Monet Foundation. Since 2008, the director of the fund is Hugo Gal (Hugues Gall). One of the main creators of the revival of Giverny gardener Gilbert Vahe, who dedicated a total of 35 years to Monet’s garden, handed over his powers to his successor in 2011, the English botanist James Priest ( James Priest).
1.4 Giverny as an "artists' colony"
Following Claude Monet, many other artists began to settle in the village, especially American, but also English, Czech, German and Scandinavian. A few of them (for example, John Leslie Breck) became friends of the French painter.
This influx of artists was due to the fact that in the 1880s and 1890s thousands of students, mostly American, came to Paris to study at art universities, attracted by a more liberal curriculum and full of hopes of gaining international fame. Many of them really managed to achieve success and win awards at the annual Parisian salons. The surrounding areas of Paris were no less attractive to these painters. These picturesque villages were especially attractive in the warm season, when you could write in plein air. This is where groups of artists, united by similar aspirations and creative styles, flocked. The longest of these " art colonies» turn of the XIX century– XX centuries existed just in Giverny, where Americans happily explored aesthetic possibilities impressionism.
It all started in 1887, when the first colony of artists settled in Giverny. This probably happened by pure coincidence: the reason for their settlement here was only the special charm of these places, and not at all the presence of Claude Monet. The first artists to come here were: John Singer Sargent (John Singer Sargent), Willard Metcalfe ( Willard Metcalf), Louis Ritter ( LouisRitter), Theodor Wendel ( Theodore Wendel), Theodore Robinson ( Theodore Robinson), John Leslie Breck ( JohnLeslieBreck) and others representatives of American impressionism.
It was they who “discovered” Giverny, where Monet had been living for four years by that time, and greedily began to paint the local landscapes, mainly views of the Epte River, hills and fields with haystacks. After this “first wave,” other American artists came here, and many began to linger not only for summer months. Some bought houses and workshops here and settled in Giverny for a long time (artists of this wave already mainly depicted scenes of family life, women and children in the garden, etc.). The quiet Norman village became unrecognizable. Parties with Japanese lanterns, playing tennis...
As for Monet, at first he welcomed the arrival of new artists in Giverny, but he soon became tired of this invasion. He himself never offered himself as a teacher, but his mere presence in the village ensured the constant growth of this colony. Before the First World War many new painters arrived in Giverny, but 1914 marked the end of this Impressionist colony, which had existed for approximately 30 years.
The revival of Giverny as a “village of artists” began in our time. This was largely facilitated by the American Foundation The Versailles/Giverny Foundation, which has been organizing programs for about 20 years “ creative residencies", each year providing three American artists who are elected by the fund Art Production Fund, the opportunity to live and work in Giverny for three months and receive a scholarship. In this way, the foundation pays tribute to American patrons, without whose help the estate would never have been restored. The Claude Monet Foundation, in turn, provides these artists with housing, a studio and a car.
Besides, American art in Giverny dedicated opened in 1992 Museum of Impressionism (Musée des impressionnismes Giverny) (former name - Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). However, it would be more correct to translate its current name as “Museum impressionisms" or "Museum of impressionistic movements ": this museum center sees its mission as demonstrating " international character impressionist direction." The museum is dedicated to the various forms of impressionism, its origins, geographical latitude, history and side “branches”. The museum often hosts interesting exhibitions of French and American impressionists, as well as artists from other countries. Official website of the museum: museedesimpressionnismesgiverny.com.
2 Monet’s garden and house in Giverny: our review of visiting the estate, description of the house and garden
2.1 Arrival in Giverny. Gift shop
That day we slept well and went to the Paris Saint-Lazare train station ( Find out more about how to get to Giverny, read). We bought tickets from a machine there for 12.50 euros until 10:20 (direction to Rouen, since Vernon belongs to the Haute-Normandie region). Driving from Paris takes up to 45 minutes. Upon arrival at the Vernon station, we stood in line for the bus to Giverny (from Vernon to this village it is about 7 km): since there were a lot of tourists, they first counted 40 people, who were put on the first bus, and another one was brought for the rest. Humane system.
After 10 - 15 minutes we were already in Giverny and an orderly multilingual crowd (in which, however, English speech dominated: Monet’s estate is especially popular among the British and Americans; in addition, this place is simply adored by Japanese tourists) headed towards cash register and to the entrance to Monet's garden.
Location of the bus stop on the map of Giverny:
The groups separated, so there was eventually a line at the box office for individual tourists It turned out to be quite small. Bought tickets ( more information about ticket prices and museum opening hours read), after which we immediately ended up at the local gift shop with a variety of products, one way or another inspired by the life and work of Claude Monet: scarves, jewelry, vases, Stuffed Toys, boxes and mirrors with motifs of his paintings, hats and aprons “a la Monet”, seeds of his favorite plants, numerous books and reproductions, calendars and bookmarks... It’s impossible to list everything.
This book and gift shop occupies the artist's third studio ( Atelier des Nymphéas) (cm. plan of the Giverny estate) - the same one in which Monet painted his large-format canvases from the “Water Lilies” series. In this room of 300 sq. meters, 2,300 products are presented, one way or another related to the theme of the garden and the work of Claude Monet. The price range is wide, and so is the choice.
2.2 Walk through Monet's garden
Claude Monet's Garden- these are actually two gardens. The first is called the "Normandy Garden" ( Le Clos Normand) and spreads out in front of the artist’s house, and the second is the “Water Garden” ( Le jardin d'eau) in Japanese style, which is located on the other side of the road ( cm. estate plan). Both parts of the garden contrast with each other and complement each other.
2.2.1 Norman garden
First we went to the first garden of the estate - the one that surrounds Monet's house and was created earlier. It is called the “Normandy flower garden”, or “Normandy garden”. Despite the abundance of tourists, walking here is very pleasant. The weather was great. The chirping of birds, a riot of colors...
In a relatively small area there is an incredible variety of flowering plants and trees, skillfully selected according to their shades. Tulips all kinds of colors, including exotic double flowers, daffodils, pink foam blooming sakura(some of them were donated to the garden in 1990 by the Japanese Ambassador).
A variety of pansies, daisies, hyacinths, hazel grouse... The riot of vegetation and density of plantings is simply amazing. Any botanical garden is just relaxing.
A few words about the history of the creation of Monet's Norman garden and its layout.
When Monet and his family settled in Giverny in 1883, the plot of land, stretching at a slight slope from the house to the road, was planted with apple trees and surrounded by high stone wall. Fascinated by this place, the artist began work, continuously improving his brainchild and turning it into the garden of his dreams.
The site was divided in half by a central alley with cypresses, spruce trees and trimmed boxwoods. This alley led from the estate gate to the entrance to the owner's house. Monet ordered the boxwoods to be cut down and, after much arguing with his wife, he did the same with the spruce trees. At her request, he kept only two yew trees that grew closest to the house. All the trees that were cut down were replaced with metal hoops, which can still be seen today. In place of apple trees appeared Japanese cherry blossoms and apricot trees, and the ground was covered with countless flowers: daffodils, tulips, irises, peonies, poppies...
Monet turned this plot of about 1 hectare into a beautiful garden with a wealth of colors, a play of symmetry and perspective. He divided the garden into several ridges, or arrays, on which flowers different heights and shade create a feeling of volume. Fruit or ornamental trees rise above the climbing roses, hollyhocks stretch upward nearby and colorful expanses of annual plants stretch out. Monet liked to combine the simplest and most common varieties of flowers (daisies and poppies) with the rarest varieties.
The metal arches of the central alley are still entwined today with fragrant climbing (or “climbing”) roses, which never cease to delight visitors to the estate. More rose bushes cover the balustrade that runs along Monet's house. At the end of summer, the entire central alley is filled with blooming nasturtiums. The impressionist did not like strictly organized, boring gardens. He selected flowers, guided by them color scheme, and allowed them to grow freely.
In the Normandy Garden there are approximately 100 thousand annual plants, which are replaced every year with new ones, and about 100 thousand perennial plants.
2.2.2 Water garden and Japanese bridge
After visiting the first garden, we underground passage moved to the second ( cm. estate plan).
This garden is especially amazing. There is a more relaxed atmosphere here. This is the so-called Vodyanoy or Water Garden, famous for his pond, Japanese bridge and water lilies(It is appropriate to note here that Monet was generally fond of Japanese design and painting, collecting Japanese prints - the walls of almost all the rooms of his house are completely covered with them). There are also many flowering plants in the Water Garden, which are again selected by color.
In the Water Garden there is a famous Japanese bridge entwined wisteria, and a pond with equally famous water lilies that bloom all summer long. The pond and the lush vegetation surrounding it form a special secluded world, fenced off from the rest of the countryside.
There are no fewer people in this picturesque garden than in the first, and naturally competition arises among those who want to take pictures on the bridge, entwined with wisteria planted by Monet himself, or against the backdrop of the famous pond with water lilies (in the spring, water lilies do not yet bloom, but the characteristic round leaves of water lilies and drooping almost to the water's edge weeping willows create a unique mood, evoking the paintings of Monet, who painted this view about fifty times!). Learn more about the history of the creation of the Water Garden with Water Lilies and its role in Monet’s work read .
Here Monet, in particular, painted the painting “ Boat"(1887) with a perfectly conveyed effect of depth, changeable reflections and highlights. No wonder Edouard Manet dubbed Claude Monet “Raphael of water.”
The abundance of tourists is an inevitable cost. In general, there is enough space in the garden for everyone, fortunately there are a lot of cozy corners with benches, shady alleys, thickets bamboo(a small island is allocated for a bamboo grove), five bridges (in addition to the famous Japanese bridge), boats...
The landscape is enchanting and just begs to be captured on camera – and if you know how to draw, then on canvas. Along the pond, rhododendron (azaleas) bushes, variegated with pink, scarlet, yellow and crimson, are planted, reflecting bright spots in the water.
Fragrant lilac brushes wisteria- one of the main decorations of the Water Garden. Their aromas, merging with the smells of azaleas, fill the air. According to Mark Elder ( Marc Elder) author of the book “In Giverny, with Claude Monet,” on the Japanese Bridge you get the feeling that you are “walking inside a vanilla bean.”
Walking along the pond, you look for angles familiar from Monet’s paintings, and remember how he himself depicted this place. It is interesting that today’s visitor to the garden sees primarily the green shades of the pond: weeping willows and other trees are reflected in the water. But in Monet’s paintings, on the contrary, blue color, a reflection of the sky, often predominates. No one knows for sure whether this is due to cataracts, which changed the artist’s color perception, or simply due to the fact that over the last century the plants around the pond have grown so much and obscured the sky.
For example, tender painting "Water lilies"(1914-18) from the collection of the Marmottan Museum. Here we do not see the banks of the pond. The branches of the weeping willow fall from nowhere - we don’t see the trunk either. They form a kind of theatrical curtain that frames the stage, or hair on the sides of the face. They set the vertical. The central part of the canvas is occupied by reflections of white clouds. The painting is limited by the frame, but at the same time creates the feeling of a huge, endless space, thanks to these clouds that reveal depth. Along with immensity, there is a reflection of the sky, which sets the horizontal water surface, and clusters of water lilies - a few light spots of pink and yellow - create a perspective effect. The darker spots on the leaves in the foreground hint at the depth of the pond, as if we were looking into the water.
Interesting to know about the history of the creation of the Water Garden and its role in Monet’s work.
Claude Monet was always captivated by the play of light and the reflection of clouds on the surface of water. His numerous luminous canvases, created on the canals of Holland, as well as in the picturesque Parisian suburb of Argenteuil, where the artist set up a floating studio in a boat to paint the banks of the Seine, show how fascinated he was by the spectacle of capsized reflections in the “liquid mirror” of water.
In 1893, ten years after his arrival in Giverny, Monet purchased a plot of land measuring 1,300 square meters next to his main property. This site was located on the other side of the road (at that time there was still a railway there), and a small stream called the Rue (“stream”) flowed through it, a branch of the Epte River, which, in turn, is a tributary of the Seine.
Having secured the support of the prefecture, Monet dug the first small reservoir here, making a diversion channel. He succeeded, despite the protests of local peasants who feared that the “strange plants” would poison the water.
So, Monet’s first project only involved the creation of a small reservoir that would be fed by water from the river, as well as the construction of a Japanese bridge and two pedestrian bridges to cross to the other bank; all this can be seen in the following drawing. (Source of these documents: website pbase.com). Permission was obtained and the plan was carried out.
However, this soon turned out to be not enough for the artist, and Monet purchased a neighboring plot on the left bank with an area of 3,700 sq.m. To expand the pond to its current size, it was even necessary to divert the river bed! Fortunately, approvals from the authorities did not take much time, and permission to implement a much less modest project was also received.
Below is a drawing of Monet's new plan, which involved expanding the pond and diverting the river bed.
The work to expand the reservoir was finally completed in 1903. The pond, together with the surrounding area, has become a famous Water garden, images of which can today be found in the collections of the world's largest museums.
The water garden is alien to symmetry. It's full of twists and turns ( cm. estate plan). The creation of such an unusual garden was partly inspired by Monet Japanese gardens, familiar to him from the engravings that the artist collected with such enthusiasm. Some of the plants for the garden were also brought from Japan. “Thank you for comparing my garden with the flowers in Hokusai’s prints,” Monet wrote to Maurice Joyan in 1896.” A significant role in the emergence of the idea to create a Japanese garden was played by the impression of the “water gardens” in the Trocadéro, which Claude Monet saw during the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889.
Created as a single ensemble, Water garden itself is a real “living picture”, changing its appearance depending on the hour of the day and time of year. At the slightest movement or change of posture, the viewer appears new perspective. In this garden we discover the key themes and characteristic features of Monet's art, his love for the motifs of infinity and the precariousness, variability and transient nature of things. There are shimmers and reflections, reflections of clouds and foliage here. The concept of the garden also embodied Monet's desire for close contact with nature, to immerse himself in the landscape rather than observe it from the outside.
One of the main charms of the Water Garden is the curved pond thrown across the pond. Japanese style bridge. The bridge is located on the same axis with the central alley of the Norman Garden ( cm. estate plan). It was built for Monet around 1894 by a local artisan. At first it was just a bridge, and ten years later it was added supports for wisteria, which With over the years we have created a beautiful canopy. In the 1970s, when funds were finally found to restore the estate, Japanese bridge was already too badly damaged and it was impossible to save it. The bridge was reconstructed exactly like the original. The work was carried out by a company from. The material used was beech wood.
The green color for the bridge was chosen by Monet himself, who wanted to contrast it with red, a color traditionally used in Japanese gardens. The oriental atmosphere is also created by skillfully selected trees and plants: bamboo, ginkgo biloba, maples, bush peonies from Japan, common in Japanese gardens rhododendrons, as well as lilies and weeping willows, which create a delightful frame for the pond.
Japanese bridge became the subject for 45 paintings by Monet. The artist first painted it in January 1895, a year and a half after receiving permission from the prefect to equip the pond and build a bridge. In 1897-1899, several genuine masterpieces came out of Monet’s brush, including the square canvas “ Pond with water lilies", which is in the collection Art Museum Princeton University.
After arranging the pond, Monet planted “the same ones” in it water lilies (Nympheas), ordering a lot of these plants from a large nursery Latour-Marliac(French botanist Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac (Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac) was the first to engage in the hybridization of water lilies and developed several varieties of cold-resistant water lilies various shades; These varieties are still popular today and grow well in temperate climates). Monet made his choice in favor of water lilies almost by accident: “I love water, but I also love flowers. Therefore, after the pond was filled with water, I wanted to decorate it with plants. I took the catalog and made a choice - just like that, at random, that’s all.” However, this random choice turned out to be fateful for Monet’s work. According to the artist himself, it took him some time to “understand” his water lilies, to delve into their beauty: “I grew them, not even thinking that I would ever paint... And then suddenly an insight descended on me, and I the charm of my pond was revealed. I took the palette. Since then I have practically no other model.” His wife Alice even complained to her daughter in her letters that her husband tirelessly painted his “eternal water lilies.”
Monet was very proud of his Water Garden and loved to receive his guests here. He could contemplate it for hours. The artist hired a gardener who took care of the garden full time and had to clean the pond and pluck every dead leaf so that the garden would remain in good condition. perfect beauty. The perfectionist Monet even required this gardener to clean the water lilies from raindrops and dew!
Unique play of light on the surface pond with water lilies has become an endless topic series of paintings, to which Monet never tired of returning again and again. “I am absorbed in work,” he writes in 1908 to Gustave Geffroy. - These landscapes with water and reflections have become some kind of obsession. This is backbreaking work for an old man, and yet I want to convey what I feel.” In these series, Monet is more interested not so much in the object itself (in this case, water lilies) as in the changing lighting, the play of light on the surface of the reservoir. “The view changes continuously, not only with the changing seasons, but from minute to minute, because water lilies are far from the only component of the scene; in fact, they are just her accompaniment.”
Thus, having been “obsessed with flowers” all his life, at the end of his life Monet devoted himself almost entirely to his passion for one plant. He was fascinated by the corollas reflected on the surface of the water, and he never stopped trying to convey these effects on canvas. From the very morning he came to the shore of the pond and spent hours watching the changing landscape.
Claude Monet turned a tiny landscape with an area of several hundred square meters to the present creative laboratory. From 1895 until his death in 1926, he painted about three hundred canvases in his Water Garden, more than 40 of which were large-format. After a series of paintings with views of the Japanese bridge, he devoted himself to the motif of water lilies. Monet began painting water lilies in 1897. In total he dedicated water lilies over 250 canvases and 30 recent years life.
Garden at Giverny proved to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration, an ideal place to study water landscapes and reflections. Now in many of Monet’s canvases we see only a water space with water lilies and reflections of water and trees, there is no horizon line - water occupies the entire canvas, everything becomes ephemeral, dissolves, disappears. In 1909, Monet presented 48 paintings from this series in the gallery Durand-Ruel under the title “Water Lilies: A Series of Water Landscapes.” This exhibition was a huge critical success.
Before Monet, not a single European artist created series of paintings dedicated to the same motive. Monet's predecessors in this regard can only be considered Japanese artists, especially Hokusai, who created several series, including the famous views of Fuji.
Head gardener Monet recalled: “We had white, yellow, red water lilies (...), also blue, exotic varieties from greenhouses.” The artist also enjoyed looking at the wisteria on the Japanese Bridge and watching their reflections in the water. Wisteria became the motif of many paintings created in 1905-1910. In later work, they were also present in Monet’s paintings, but were reduced to almost abstract color spots. The same applies to the flowing lines of weeping willows, which often became the subject of his canvases. The “green hair” of willows, merging with their reflections in the pond, creates a frame for water lilies on the water surface or becomes the theme of an independent painting(in 1918-1922 Monet created twelve paintings from the “Weeping Willows” series).
Monet began this series of eight large-format paintings “Water Lilies” at the suggestion of his friend Georges Clemenceau. The artist had been working on this cycle since 1914, when he was already diagnosed with cataracts. Soon he decided to present these paintings as a gift to the state and signed the corresponding document. Today in the Orangerie Museum these large-scale canvases make up a real panoramic frieze that unfolds in front of the viewer and, as it were, envelops him from all sides. The ensemble, with an area of 200 square meters, became one of the most monumental creations of the century.
2.3 House-Museum of Claude Monet in Giverny
After visiting the Water Garden, we returned to the first, Norman Garden - the one that surrounds the artist’s house - and went to see Monet’s home itself ( cm.
It is believed that today Monet's house has been recreated exactly as it was in that era. However, now you will not find here the eternal smell of tobacco that Monet loved to smoke so much, nor the patter of 8 pairs of children’s feet, no noisy friends, nor the kitchen bustle when fresh vegetables were delivered there in the morning...
2.3.1 Guide to Monet's house in Giverny
When entering the house, you should pay attention to the pretty green porch, decorated with large Chinese tubs of flowers placed at the entrance and at the bottom of the stairs. There are three entrances to the house: a central one and two side entrances, also oriented towards the garden.
All entrance doors are located along a narrow terrace that runs along the house. The door on the left leads to Monet's studio, the central one, through which we enter, is intended for the inhabitants of the house and friends, and the right door is for the servants, it leads to the kitchen. (There is a fourth door in the house, which leads from the workshop directly to the garden).
Let's go in now inside the house. The direction of the inspection is set from the very beginning, and the rangers ask tourists not to violate it. You are in a hurry to immediately look at the most beautiful rooms, the kitchen and dining room, located to the right of the entrance, but they politely point you to the left.
Home inspection begins on the first floor, from the so-called " blue salon» ( salon bleu), or reading rooms (here Alice spent time with the children, reading and embroidering). Monet ordered to decorate the room in a joyful blue palette: paint the furniture, walls and ceilings light blue (in general, Monet personally designed almost all Interior Design your home). Painted in the same colors, bookcases, sideboards and other pieces of furniture almost blend into the walls (photo source: givernews.com). Here you can see some family photos, as well as part of Monet’s collection of Japanese prints, other fragments of which are presented in the remaining rooms.
The fact is that all the paintings by Claude Monet that were in Giverny were transferred to the Marmottan Museum, but the richest collection of Japanese prints preserved in the estate, no one took it anywhere, so these engravings can still be seen in Monet’s house. Monet Collection contains over 200 works by Japanese artists, including 46 prints Utamaro(1753-1806), 23 engravings Hokusai(1760-1849) and 48 engravings Hiroshige(1797-1858), that is, a total of 117 engravings by these famous masters. Monet himself never visited Japan, but, like many contemporary artists, he admired this country and its art. Not particularly greedy for fashionable things, in this case he could not resist and succumbed to the fashion trend - the general passion for Japan. Evidence of this is not only the collection of Japanese prints, but also the famous Japanese Bridge, as well as the design of Monet’s dinner service, the style of some pieces of furniture, figurines and trinkets in the house.
Previously, the blue salon was a full-fledged room, by country standards, but today's visitor quickly passes it, moving into pantry (l'épicerie). This small unheated room was used to store tea in hanging cupboards and a cupboard. olive oil, eggs, spices, liqueurs, canned goods... The walls of the pantry are painted in calm tones of pale green and lilac.
The Japanese-style wooden buffet with a bamboo look retained its natural color, as did the egg cartons and the hanger, this time made from real bamboo. Drawers and other compartments of the buffet are equipped with locks: in an era when people lived in the same house with servants, and food was quite expensive, such a precaution was considered not superfluous.
The entire pantry has retained its special charm country house. Its modest, somewhat old-fashioned decor and especially the painted egg boxes give the room a special rural feel. One such box contained 36 fresh eggs - not so much for such a big family, like Claude Monet, which numbered 10 people: 2 daughters from his first marriage to Camille, his second wife Alice (she was Monet’s mistress from 1875, and in 1892 she became his wife) and Alice’s six children from another marriage (plus more servants)! The second container was designed for 80 eggs. The chicken coop was in the garden. To this we must add that in the 19th century people ate much more eggs than they do now. Eggs, as you can see, were again stored under lock and key - like all other products. True, it is not a fact that Madame Monet used this lock and actually locked all the drawers with a key.
From the pantry, visitors move to the first Claude Monet's workshop (salon-atelier) (under the previous owners this room was used as a grain warehouse). This is the artist’s first studio, in which he worked until 1899; after the arrangement of the second workshop ( cm. estate plan) this room became used as a smoking salon, as well as a place where Monet could drink a glass of liqueur, read a novel or book about gardening, and write a letter. Here the artist also received his visitors, critics, dealers, collectors... Now in the room there is a bust of Monet, made during his lifetime by Paul Paulin ( Paul Paulin).
In 2011 the workshop was completed restoration, made possible through generous donations from fund patrons Versailles Foundation. As a result of this work, it was possible to give the room the appearance that it had in Monet’s time (the artist liked to keep a painting characteristic of each period of his work). The restorers were greatly assisted in recreating the room by numerous photographs from 1920, as well as a thorough analysis of the history of the master’s paintings.
Thus, experts were able to determine exactly which paintings and in what order were located at that time on the walls of the workshop in Giverny. In total, about sixty paintings were selected, for which copies were made. These copies cover the studio walls in dense rows, recreating the atmosphere of the past. For the furniture upholstery, a cheerful fabric with a pattern of cornflowers and roses was used, which is still produced by the company Georges Le Manach. According to historical photographs, this is the fabric that was used to cover the chairs in Monet’s studio in 1920. In addition, a replica of the bronze lamp was made, which also appears in these historical photographs of Monet's studio.
Photos of the updated interior of Claude Monet's studio (
The gardens of Claude Monet, located on the right bank of the Seine in the small picturesque town of Giverny in Normandy, are famous throughout the world thanks to the paintings of the great artist, who lived here from 1883 until his death in 1926.
Over the years, he drew inspiration from nature and added a new palette of colors and shades to his garden, which were reflected in his paintings.
More than half a million guests come to Giverny every year to admire the beautiful garden design, diversity flora and visit the house where the artist spent the happiest and most fruitful half of his life.
The artist loved countryside landscapes, drawing his inspiration from the surrounding nature, so it is only natural that Claude Monet's colorful gardens are located 80 km from the hustle and bustle of Paris.
In 1883, the Monet family - his wife Alice and eight children settled in a house in the village of Giverny, purchasing a plot of land.
The great landscape painter was seriously interested in gardening, studying magazines, books, corresponding with experts and exchanging seeds and plants. This was his second passion after painting.
Over time, he created this pastoral fairytale paradise with many plants and flowers that change with the seasons. Monet created and experimented, arranging his site with love and enthusiasm, creating living paintings, using his talent as a great artist.
The central alley leading to the house is decorated with high decorative arches entwined with magnificent roses, and the main accent of the landscape is the unusual flower beds of field, garden and exotic plants. Their variety of colors and shades is simply breathtaking!
The artist was inspired to create a Japanese-style garden, with numerous paths and cozy corners, from one of the Japanese prints that he collected.
Near a small natural stream, Monet built a fairly large pond with beautiful water lilies and water lilies, which inspired the great landscape painter to create a whole series of his most significant paintings.
Willows and bamboo were planted on the shore of the pond, which is crossed by a wooden bridge covered with wisteria. The artist reflected this garden corner in many of his works. The water garden, with its fairy-tale bridge, water lilies, wisteria and azaleas, recreates the image that so inspired Monet immortal works: "Japanese Bridge" (1899) and "Water Lilies" (1914 -1917), known throughout the world.
You can also visit the Pink House, which contains period furniture, reproductions of some paintings and many Japanese prints from the collection of the founder of Impressionism. The house offers a beautiful view of the garden landscape.
If you drive 80 km north from Paris, you can get to the picturesque town of Giverny. This village is famous for the fact that Claude Monet once lived and worked here for forty-three years.
Having settled in the village in 1883, the artist became so interested in gardening that his canvases contained almost nothing except views of his favorite garden and a poppy field, which is located on the edge of the village.
At first, Monet's garden consisted only of the area adjacent to the house (about 1 hectare). Here, the first thing the artist did was carve out a gloomy alley of spruce and cypress trees. But tall stumps were left, along which climbing roses then climbed. But soon the vines grew so large that they closed and formed a vaulted flowering tunnel leading from the gate to the house. Of course, over time, the stumps collapsed, and now the roses are supported by metal supports. This place can be seen in the Master’s paintings: the perspective of an alley, where there are lush flowers on the left, right and above, and on the path below there are their thin openwork shadows.
The artist turned the area in front of the house, which was visible from the windows, into a floral palette, mixing and matching colors. In Monet's garden, a colorful, fragrant carpet of flowers is divided by straight paths, like paints in a box. Monet painted flowers and painted with flowers. He's like truly talented person was both an outstanding artist and an outstanding landscape designer. He was very interested in gardening, bought special books and magazines, corresponded with nurseries, and exchanged seeds with other gardeners.
Fellow artists often visited Monet in Giverny. Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, Pissarro and others visited here. Knowing about the owner’s passion for flowers, friends brought him plants as gifts. Thus, Monet got, for example, tree-like peonies brought from Japan.
By this time, Claude Monet became famous. This artist’s painting technique is different in that he did not mix paints. And he placed them side by side or layered one on top of the other in separate strokes. Claude Monet's life flows calmly and pleasantly, his family and his beloved wife are nearby, paintings sell well, the artist is passionate about what he loves.
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In 1893, Monet bought a plot of marshy land next to his own, but located on the other side of the railway. A small stream flowed here. At this place, the artist, with the support of local authorities, created a pond, small at first and later enlarged. Nymphs of different varieties were planted in the reservoir, and weeping willows, bamboo, irises, rhododendrons and roses were planted along the banks.
There are several bridges across the pond, which has a very winding coastline. The most famous and largest of them is the Japanese bridge entwined with wisteria. Monet painted it especially often.
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Monet's water garden is strikingly different from the surrounding area; it is hidden behind the trees. You can only get here through a tunnel built under the road. Everyone who comes here involuntarily freezes, holding their breath, seeing the masterpiece created by the great artist, recognizing the plots of his world-famous paintings.
Claude Monet drew inspiration from the water garden for 20 years. Monet wrote: “... the revelation of my fabulous, wonderful pond came to me. I took the palette, and from that time on I almost never had another model.” 
He first created paintings in nature, they gave reflections in the water surface of the pond, and then the artist transferred them to canvas. Getting up every day at five in the morning, he came here and painted in any weather and any time of year. Here he created more than a hundred paintings. At this time, Monet began to lose his sight... It became increasingly difficult for him to distinguish and write small parts. The artist's paintings gradually change. Details and nuances are replaced by large strokes of paint that show the play of light and shadow. But even in paintings painted in this manner, we unmistakably guess familiar plots. The cost of paintings continues to rise...
Claude Monet died at his home in Giverny in 1926. His stepdaughter Blanche looked after the garden. Unfortunately, during the Second World War the garden fell into disrepair. In 1966, the son of the artist Michel Monet donated the estate to the Academy of Fine Arts, which immediately began restoration of first the house and then the garden. Now the estate in Giverny is visited by half a million people every year.
Claude Monet lived a long life happy life. He managed to do what he loved, combine painting and gardening, and live in abundance. He was very happy in his personal life, he loved and was loved. Monet became famous during his lifetime, which is rare for artists. And now throughout the world he remains one of the most famous and beloved artists. And we are especially pleased that this outstanding man is not only a great painter, but also our colleague and Teacher, Master of Landscape Art.
Svetlana Chizhova, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Landscape Art Company,
especially for the site
Photo: Svetlana Chizhova, Mikhail Shcheglov
Claude Monet's garden can be considered one of his works; in it, the artist miraculously realized the idea of transforming nature according to the laws of light painting. His studio was not limited by walls; it opened out onto the open air, where color palettes were scattered everywhere, training the eye and satisfying the insatiable appetite of the retina, ready to perceive the slightest flutter of life.
Georges Clemenceau, the artist's neighbor
The picturesque tiny village of Giverny, located near the confluence of the Epte and the Seine, is located just 80 km north of Paris. In 1883, after long and unsuccessful attempts to find permanent housing, the artist Claude Monet came here and settled with his family.
The place charmed him so much that, despite the extremely difficult financial situation, Monet decided to buy a hectare of land. This acquisition changed his whole life.
Monet became interested in gardening. It had interested him before. And in Saint-Michel (Bougival), and in Argenteuil, and in Vétheuil, despite meager funds, the artist managed to plant small gardens with overgrown flower beds. In Giverny his passion reached its climax.
The layout of the garden created by the artist, which changed its appearance in accordance with the seasons, was thought out to the smallest detail. Together with Alice Goshede (his second wife), her six children and his two sons, Monet created the garden of his dreams.
First of all, work was carried out on the approaches to the house: Monet cut down the alley of firs and cypresses, considering it too dull. But he cut it down not at the root, but retained the tall stumps to which shoots of climbing rose hips could cling. Soon the vines grew so large that they closed, and the alley turned into a vaulted tunnel strewn with flowers above the path leading to the house from the gate. Later, when the stumps collapsed, Monet replaced them with metal arches, gradually overgrown with flowers.
Having an aversion to the large decorative flower beds that the bourgeoisie usually arranged on their lawns, Monet planted irises, phlox, delphiniums, asters and gladioli, dahlias and chrysanthemums, as well as bulbous plants, which against the bright green background of the lawns looked like luxurious mosaic carpet.
The artist's experienced eye allowed him to skillfully “mix” flowers of various colors to achieve harmonious combinations, contrasts and transitions. Claude Monet did not like gardens planned out or contained in a colorful riot. He arranged the flowers according to their shades and allowed them to grow completely freely.
Over the years, the artist became more and more fascinated by botany, captivating him no less than the study of light reflections. In a book dedicated to Monet (“This Unknown Claude Monet”), his stepson J.P. Goshede notes that the most important thing for the artist was not the curiosity, but the impression made by it. Impression from the detail and from the whole.
The ongoing process of creating a garden inspired Monet, and he conscientiously studied trade catalogs, constantly ordering more and more new seedlings, and also exchanged plants with his friends Clemenceau and Seybotte. To obtain reliable first-hand information, the artist hosted the most significant gardening specialists for dinner and became especially friendly with Georges Truffaut.
Monet constantly searched for rare varieties, buying them for very significant sums. " All my money goes into my garden, - Monet admitted, - but I am absolutely delighted with this plant splendor».
Cycle of flowers
"Le Clos Nonmand" was conceived "in French". The garden is located in front of the house, and the strict straight lines of the alleys contrast sharply with the colorful carpet of fragrant flowers all year round. Each season has its own color scheme. In spring, glades of light yellow daffodils precede the blooming of tulips, azaleas, rhododendrons, purple lilacs and delicate wisteria.
The artist's favorite irises occupy a special place in the garden. They were planted in long, wide rows by the head gardener, his five assistants and, of course, Monet himself. Delphiniums of astounding beauty, poppies and clematis of various shades and sizes add a vibrant palette of summer colors. Summer passes under the sign of rapid flowering of roses.
From mid-autumn, the garden, with a young and lush frenzy, burns with its farewell colors, before fading until next spring. In the morning and evening, the dim rays of the autumn sun caress the geranium and emphasize the royalty of roses, fragile as Chinese porcelain. The fire of nasturtiums - shameless conquerors of all garden paths - spreads over their translucent leaves.
At the intersections of the main alleys, lavender-blue clematis proudly announce their arrival, while all the other little things compete with each other for space on the distant paths. Graceful dahlias complete with their arrogance the picture of the eternal struggle to show the world, even for a moment, the unique rainbow of pink, purple, orange and bright yellow.
Water garden
Water always fascinated the artist, and, having completed work on the flower garden near the house, in 1893 - ten years after his arrival in Giverny - Monet bought a large wetland plot of land with a stream on the other side of the road. With the support of local authorities, Monet digs a small pond there, thereby causing the displeasure of the neighbors. The pond will later be enlarged to its current size.
The water garden is full of asymmetry and curves. It is reminiscent of Japanese gardens, so beloved by Monet - it is not for nothing that the artist has long been fond of collecting engravings depicting them. In 1895, a “Japanese bridge” was erected, entwined with fragrant lilac-white wisteria lace. The pond was planted with water lilies of almost all species existing in nature, and along the edges a hedge of irises and arrowhead was built. The pond was densely framed by ferns, rhododendrons, azaleas, and lush bushes of blooming roses.
Magnificent weeping willows, columnar poplars and exotic looking bamboo thickets complemented the picture imbued with serene peace. The pond and everything around it make up a single landscape, strikingly different not only from the outside rural world, but also from the multicolored flower garden in front of the house.
Here the sky and clouds, merging into one with greenery and flowers, are reflected in the mirror surface of the pond. And the border between reality and dreams is just an illusion... Always in search of fog and transparency, Monet devoted himself largely to “reflections in water” - an upside-down world, reality, passed through the water element.
The entire Giverny period, which lasted almost half a century, passed under the sign of Water Lilies.
« It's been a long time, wrote Monet, before I could understand my water lilies... I planted them for pleasure, without even thinking that I would paint them. And suddenly, unexpectedly, the revelation of my fabulous, wonderful pond came to me. I took the palette, and from that time on I almost never had another model.».
Bending over the surface of the reservoir, Monet endlessly painted water lilies, aquatic plants, and weeping willow. He created about a hundred sketches and completed canvases on this topic, and it is they that perhaps evoke the greatest admiration, especially since many of the works were completed during an exacerbation of glaucoma, which threatened Monet’s vision, and are therefore close to abstract painting.
I'm good for nothing other than painting and gardening.
Claude Monet
Cezanne, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Matisse and other artists often came to Giverny. Monet loved to host them, happily showing off his garden, greenhouses and unique collection Japanese prints. Knowing about the artist’s passion for gardening, many friends gave him rare, unique plants. For example, exotic tree peonies brought from Japan appeared in Giverny.
The success of the impressionist’s paintings had become obvious by that time. As more money became available, Monet improved and expanded the house. Later he built a workshop in the garden. Every day the artist got up at five o'clock in the morning, came here and painted tirelessly. He painted at any time of the year, in any weather, at any hour of the day. He was also fascinated by walks in the surrounding area: Monet loved fields scarlet with poppies and shady paths along the Seine.
Restoring Monet's garden
The fate of the estate, so dear to the artist’s heart, was not easy.
After Monet's death in 1926, his son Michel inherited the house and garden in Giverny. He did not live there, and the artist’s stepdaughter, Blanche, looked after the estate. Then came the war and the post-war years of devastation, when there was no money to maintain a beautiful garden. The estate at Giverny fell into disrepair. In 1966, Michel Monet donated it to the Academy of Fine Arts. In the same year, restoration of the house began, which lasted for 10 long years and was finally successfully completed, largely through the efforts of the Claude Monet Foundation.
In 1977, Gerald Van der Kemp was appointed curator of Giverny. Andre Deville and the famous designer Georges Trufaut helped him restore the garden in all its glory. The best gardeners in France have done a colossal, very hard work for garden reconstruction. Testimonies from Monet’s contemporaries, photographs of the garden and, of course, helped a lot. beautiful paintings artist. Many of Monet's descendants also provided assistance.
Numerous loans and donations eventually made it possible to revive the estate, returning it to its original appearance and former splendor. Now thousands of visitors from all over the world can enjoy unique world, created by Claude Monet.
Based on materials from the book by J.-P. Krespel “Daily Life of the Impressionists. 1863–1883” / trans. from fr. E. Puryaeva. – M.: Mol.guard, 1999.
Magazine "Garden&Kindergarten" 1-2006
From Rouen the road led us to Giverny, to visit Claude Monet.
“I’m good for nothing except painting and gardening.” Claude Monet.
One day, Monet, traveling on a train past the village of Giverny, 80 kilometers from Paris, drew attention to its picturesqueness, to the peaceful picture of village life, blooming gardens, peace and tranquility in the air.
In 1883, he first rented, and 7 years later bought a large brick house with a garden and vegetable garden on 1 hectare of land. This is how he looks in Monet’s painting (all reproductions used here are from paintings by Claude Monet):
I saw him like this: 
After 3 years he buys a plot through railway(today there is a highway and an underpass). Here he diverts a canal from a tributary of the Epte River to create a pond and water garden. 
In this estate he would happily live the second half of his life, 43 years, with his sons Jean and Michel, his beloved second wife Alice and her six children (his first wife, Camille, died at the age of 32 from tuberculosis). 
He is already a famous artist, makes good money, is respected and loved by his friends, he often has impressionist artists at his estate and at the Giverny hotel, among them there are many foreigners, especially Americans, who want to learn from the master of impressionism.
(Claude Monet in Giverny. In the photo - far right)
I have seen a lot of house-museums and memorial estates in Russia, I don’t really like them because of their “lifeless” and “uninhabited” appearance, laces fencing the entrance to the rooms, caretakers vigilantly monitoring visitors... In Giverny everything “breathes” with presence Monet, you can walk freely around the pink house with green shutters,
look at the paintings on the walls (unfortunately, copies)
look into the studio from which he seemed to have just left, look out the window from which he admired his garden, getting up every morning at 5 o’clock and setting off to write sketches.
You can see the bedroom, with copies of his works and paintings of friends,
See what the dining room looked like Japanese prints– his hobby, and cuisine
There is a regular garden in front of the house, in which Monet planned the planting of flowers, bushes and trees so that they would constantly bloom, replacing each other from early spring to late autumn.
Monet created his garden as piece of art, How big picture taking into account perspective, shapes, color, light, and shadows.
But his favorite place was the Japanese water garden. He said: “...The revelation of my fabulous, wonderful pond came to me. I took the palette, and from that time on I almost never had another model.”
He was always fascinated by the idea of transmitting reflections in water, water highlights and, of course, water lilies, white and multi-colored, which had not previously been seen in France. Four years before Monet began developing his water garden, in 1889, at the World Exhibition in Paris, he saw multi-colored water lilies bred by a French breeder.
Claude Monet painted more than 270 paintings depicting his water garden, a bridge entwined with wisteria (there are 6 of them in the garden),
the famous water lilies, the reflection of the sky and weeping willows in the water, vibrating color, delicate shadows.
In 1912, Monet underwent two operations for cataracts and began to see White color like blue or purple in the ultraviolet range, which is why we can often see a lot of blue in his paintings of those years.
In 1911, his wife Alice died, and soon his eldest son Jean, Monet fell into depression. His stepdaughter Blanche Goschede (or Hoschede), who was married to Jean, moved to Giverny in 1913 after the death of her husband, helped Monet, being a good artist herself, and supported him until the end of his life. One of the streets in Giverny today bears her name.
In 1926, Claude Monet died of lung cancer at the age of 86 and was buried in a local cemetery. The house and garden were passed on to the youngest son Michel, but he lived in Paris, Blanche and the head gardener looked after the garden, trying to keep everything the same. The estate and garden were damaged during the war; Michel sold his father's collection of paintings to private museums in the 50s; many paintings by Monet and his friends ended up in the USA. After Michel died in a car accident, Monet's house and garden were bequeathed (Michel had no children) to the French Academy of Fine Arts. The remaining paintings went to the Marmottan-Monet Museum in Paris, which today houses the largest collection of works by Claude Monet.
In the 70s, extensive work was carried out to restore the house, garden, and surrounding landscapes; today they look almost the same as they did during Monet’s lifetime.
If it were not for the large number of tourists filling the rooms of the house and wandering along the paths of the garden, then you would get a complete impression of how the great artist lived here. And maybe it would even seem to you that he is sitting on a foggy morning by the pond and painting his adored water lilies or relaxing on a bench in his garden.…
Near the estate, if you are tired and hungry, you can have a snack in a cozy cafe that serves dishes from the famous Normandy ducks,
or watch the white Norman cows, they say, and in Monet’s time they also grazed in the meadows next to the estate.
All photographs of the estate and house were taken by me in Giverny in August 2015.
