Customer Reviews

Eyewitness: Monet

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I am a very big fan of the Eyewitness books and this one dwelling on the subject of Claude Monet is no exception. As a matter of fact Eyewitness more or less out did themselves with this one. Like the product description tells us, Tthis is like visiting a Monet museum! If you have any interesting in my favorite impressionist what so ever or if you have any interest in the era in which he created, then this volume is most certainly one you should have on your shelf!

Not only are we treated to some fine reproductions of his work, but also hundreds of photographs of the places he painted, photographs of the tools he used, photographs of the actual scenes he rendered on canvas, actual canvases in different stages of development, and of course photographs of the artist himself. Hey folks, we even have a photo of the pipe he smoked (which is shown in a couple of his painting), is letter opener, love letters, his quill pen, preliminary notes of his paintings, his painting umbrella and beautiful shots of his garden at Giverny. I personally was fascinated with the pictures of a couple of the palettes he used and there-by found the one and only thing this great artist and I had in common...we both made a wretched mess of our palettes and were poor housekeepers when it came to cleaning them. Unlike my pallets though, I would gladly hang his on my wall rather than toss them as my family surly will do when I am gone.

The author has taken minute close-up photos of several of his painting; examined his brush strokes in detail along with the color combinations and blending techniques the artist used to create his fantastic illusions.

But the photographs and paintings are only apart of the story here. The author has mixed a very readable text in the form of small (and not so small) paragraphs throughout the book explaining in detail just what it is you are looking at and how it pertains to the artists' work and life....all very readable and understandable.

As an aside: There is a wonderful photograph of `floating studio' used my Monet; a reproduction built in 1990. Loving boats that do not get out of site of land, and knowing just a bit about carpentry (and having friends and relatives who know lots and lots abut the craft as they make their living at it), I have about decided that one of my retirement projects here in a few months is to build one of these little house boats in by backyard jus to see if I can pull it off. We shall see. This is going to take some research...something I like to do anyway.

Anyway - this is a delightful book and is well worth the several hours it takes to read it and the several weeks you will spend going over and over it time and again.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Great service and quick delivery. Nothing like a real paper and ink book to hold in your hands. These books are great for learning about artist. Thank you