\0/\Jrf/\J ARCHIVES F0R IMMEDIATE RELEASE The MetropolitanG0PI£S Museum of Art New York, N.Y. 10028 212 879 5500 EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY CLAUDE MONET TO BE SHOWN AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM Exhibition Dates: Saturday, April 22, through July 9, 1978 Press Preview: Wednesday, April 19th, from 10:00 AM to Noon. Monet's Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism, an exhibition of 81 paintings brought together from public and private collections in the United States and Europe, will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 22nd. Twenty-five of the paintings have been lent by the Musee Marmottan in Paris from the estate of Monet's son, Michel. The exhibition will trace the course of Monet's creative output from 1883, when he settled in the village of Giverny, in the Seine Valley forty miles northwest of Paris, to his death there in 1926. The paintings will be arranged chronologically to show Monet's search for an alternative to Impressionism during the 1880's, his "ser­ ies" paintings of haystacks and poplars of the 1890's, and finally the famous paintings of the water-lily pond. The exhibition will trace the Water Lilies series from their origins shortly after 1900 through the execution of the large, decorative works of the late teens and early twenties. Monet's Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism has been organized (MORE) EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY CLAUDE MONET AT METROPOLITAN PAGE 2 by the Metropolitan Museum with the participation of The St. Louis Art Museum. It has been made possible in part by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust. Following its showing in New York the exhibition will travel to St. Louis, where it will be on view from August 1st to October 8th. The St. Louis showing will be funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Giverny was Monet's main source of inspiration for nearly two thirds of his productive life. Until about 1900 the landscape within walking or boating distance of the village provided him with subjects. After 1900 he began to concentrate on his own luxuriant gardens, and as he grew older he devoted himself exclusively to this environment. Monet carefully calculated the visual effect of each element of the gardens, and as time passed they came to serve almost as first sketches for the paintings. After World War II Monet's gardens—so central to his art--fell into ruin. Over the last few years the house and gardens have been painstakingly restored, and this fall they will be reopened to the public. The restoration was made possible by a generous grant from Lila Acheson Wallace to the Academie des Beaux-Arts, l'lnstitut de France, the trust­ ee of the house and grounds since the death in 1966 of Michel Monet. The exhibition has been organized to celebrate the rebirth of the gardens and to honor Mrs. Wallace. Charles S. Moffett, Associate Curator in the Metropolitan Museum's Department of European Paintings, who selected the paintings in the (MORE) EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY CLAUDE MONET AT METROPOLITAN PAGE 3 exhibition, has written: "Monet's oeuvre is so extensive that its very ambition and diversity challenge our understanding of its importance. His paintings, executed over a period of nearly 70 years, weave a fabric as seamless as that of the late Water Lilies canvases. Yet this con­ tinuity was constantly enriched by innovation. The objective, early works of the precocious student of Boudin, which defined Impressionism in the 1860's, and the last paintings of the watergarden in the 1920's, with their mastery of abstraction as a means of personal expression, appear the distinct products of two separate centuries. To understand the degree to which Monet's paintings are a bridge — paralleled only by those of Cezanne--between Impressionist and twentieth-century painting, the work at Giverny is of critical importance." In the 1880's Monet began slowly to pursue new directions, to simpl­ ify his compositions and to choose subjects — fields of flowers and river views--that offered broad areas of color and tone. In time he became especially interested in reflections and in two-dimensional imagery. The lyrical, "classically Impressionistic" compositions of the seventies gave way to a new intuitive sense of structure and an interest in color per se, and Monet increasingly selected motifs to suit particular stylistic and formal needs. Thus, Monet gradually abandoned the prin­ cipal tenet of Impressionism -- the accurate and quasi-scientific transcription of observed phenomena. Between 1883 and 1891 Monet produced a series of paintings of hay­ stacks. The concept of a unified series, of theme and variations, (MORE) EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY CLAUDE MONET AT METROPOLITAN PAGE 4 became increasingly important. In addition to the Haystacks series Monet drew on the landscape around Giverny for the Poplars (1891) and the Mornings on the Seine (1897). Each painting in these series seems to be a metaphor for a particular mood, evoked by changes in light and atmosphere. "In them," Moffett writes, "Monet triumphantly fused the self-expression and subjective license of Symbolism with the profound commitment to nature that was central to Impressionism." As the years passed, Monet's world grew more confined by his advanc­ ing age and failing vision. Finally he did not venture beyond his immediate surroundings — the garden and water-lily pond. Here he painted the late series: the Japanese Footbridge, the Water Lilies, and the later series of the footbridge, the house seen from the garden, and the garden path. As his world contracted Monet's canvases grew larger, culminating in the great, mural-sized waterscapes. In these paintings Monet raised the point of view, leaving the observer suspended above the ambiguities of translucence and reflection, deprived of a horizon line from which to plot his location. After 1916 Monet devoted himself primarily to the large Water Lilies cycle that he gave to the French nation, and which is installed in two rooms in the Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris. Paintings from this period in the exhibition will include two large triptychs, one of which has never been exhibited in this country. The three other can­ vases belong to different museums. They were only recently recognized to be a triptych, and they will be exhibited together for the first time in the exhibition. Of the paintings of this period, Moffett (MORE) EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY CLAUDE MONET AT METROPOLITAN PAGE 5 writes: "That Monet was totally absorbed by a 'decorative' cycle did not in any way diminish the importance of the project. Perhaps more than anything else, 'decorative' suggests that he was synthesizing and abstracting form and color from nature to create a particular effect for a specific architectural setting. The image on the retina was now only a starting point, for in these vast close-ups Monet takes us through the looking glass of the pond's surface and into the shallow but infinite space of twentieth-century painting." An introductory gallery has been planned to introduce the visitor to Monet's property at Giverny. Photographs document the house, the three studios, and the gardens as they were used by Monet and his family and friends. Recent photographs by Stephen Shore will show the house and grounds since they have been restored. The exhibition was organized by Mr. Moffett; the installation was designed by Herbert F. Schmidt, Manager of the Museum's Design Depart­ ment. The exhibition catalogue comprises full color plates of the 81 paintings, an introduction by Mr. Moffett and James N. Wood, Director of The St. Louis Art Museum, and a biographical essay by Daniel Wilden- stein, Member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, l'Institut de France, and author of a catalogue raisonne on Monet. The book also includes a full chonology and selected bibliography. 190 pages, 34 black and white illustrations. $6.95 paperbound. (MORE) EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY CLAUDE MONET AT METROPOLITAN PAGE 6 An audioguide recorded tour will be available for rental at the exhibition, and a Sound/Slide set, intended for home, school or insti­ tutional use, may be purchased through the Museum. (END) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION and photographs please contact Jack Frizzelle or John Ross, The Public Information Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10028. Tel: (212) 879-5500. March 1978 .