Monet and Architecture - Inspirational exhibition at the National Gallery in London until end July

The current exhibition was a wonderful reminder  of past experiences of seeing Monet's paintings and the locations which feature in his work, as well as discovering work I had never  seen before. Most of all, I enjoyed  comparing five versions of Rouen cathedral.   From  the upstairs room in a clothes shop opposite the cathedral, Monet painted more than 30 canvases over a period of two years, 1892-3,.setting  up his easel, screened off from the daily business of the shop. Although photography was, surprisingly, permitted at the NG, I did not take any photos while there, but include some of the images taken from a catalogue of a previous exhibition.   On a family holiday in 2010 we visited the cathedral in Rouen and also an exhibition of impressionist paintings at the Musee des Beaux Art.

Stamp issued in 1957 

Other memories  re-emerged on seeing Monet's paintings of the Normandy
coast in the NG.  Shown below right,  is  a fisherman's cottage on the clifftop near Varengeville, whose church we also visited in 2006.   In the churchyard is a wonderful mosaic dove on the grave of Georges Braque, whose friend Raoul Ubac  designed some of the stained glass windows in the church,  The area has associations with many artists.

Rouen Cathedral and one of the many paintings by Monet 

Monet's atmospheric paintings of Venice and London in  the mist and fog  also feature in the exhibition., together with  exotic gardens of  Italy and the South of France, but all in relation to architectural elements.  Most enjoyable!

Impressionism in Normandy

Just got back from our fortnight's holiday in Fecamp, Normandy. It's a great area for many reasons and this Summer there's an additional reason to visit the are if you're interested in the art of the Impressionists. There is an Impressionist festival and there are many exhibitions and displays around the ares.

I was lucky to be able to visit a great exhibition which continues on until 26th September 2010 at the Musee des Beaux Arts in Rouen. It's called "Une ville pour L'Impressionnisme MKonet, Pissarro et Gauguin a Roune. As well as many paintings by these artists, including (I think) 11 of Monet's paintings of Rouen Cathedral, you can discover works by lesser known artists. It was the first time I had come across the beautiful oil paintings of Charles Frechon, Joseph Delattre and Robert Antoine Pinchon.

There are other major exhibitions in Le Havre and Dieppe, but it's worth checking visiting times and dates and beware of the French lunchtime closing hours, which I'm afraid I had somehow forgotten when in these locations!

While we were in Normandy we visited Fecamp, Etretat and Yport, all towns which have Impressionist connections and many of the small shops were displaying reproductions of the artists' work alongside contemporary artists' work.

A great area for a last minute break and to take in the wonderful coastline and the Hautes Falaises (high cliffs) made famous by the Impressionists. We managed to get a very cheap ferry crossing Dover to Dunquerque with Norfolk Line for just £49 return in August for car and family of four, but did have a 3 hour drive to reach our dstination in Fecamp.