The Claude Monet Art Tour

Claude Monet was one of the greatest impressionist painters and one of the most prolific in producing beautiful paintings, many hanging in the world’s biggest museums. This art tour suggests where to go in Paris to see his art.

1. Musee d’Orsay - This large museum has art that was created between 1848 and 1914, so it contains a large quantity of impressionist art. Their catalog shows that they have 88 Monets in the museum. However it is probable that not all of them are displayed at one time. It is advisable to go to this museum first thing in the morning, as soon as it opens, to avoid crowds. It is difficult to appreciate art when the museum is crowded with people. When there are few people around, one can enjoy Monet’s paintings in silence. When one looks at Monet’s art, one finds that almost all of his paintings would look good in any house or apartment setting, whether it is modern or traditional.

2. The Marmottan-Monet Museum - Rue Louis-Boilly, 2, (Métro: La Muette (9))

Not too many people go to this museum, which now has the largest collection of Monet art in the world. There are more than 150 pieces of Monet art here. Paul Marmottan had a 19th century townhouse and he had one of the largest collections of Empire style furniture in France. He donated his house and collection to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in the 1930s. The second floor has a lot of impressionist art with many paintings from Berthe Morrisot. Later Michel Monet, Claude’s son, died in a car accident and his will left his collection of his father’s paintings to the museum. The Monets are housed in a modern basement gallery and many of them are very large format, especially the ones with the water lilies. Some of the paintings are very abstract and showed Monet was ahead of his time. There are many benches to rest and admire the large paintings. Since there are few people in this museum, one has time and peace to contemplate all the paintings. The bookstore has many good Monet memorabilia and the posters are very inexpensive. Near the museum is a large and very delightful park.

3. The Orangerie Museum - This museum is located in the Tuilerie gardens and is a very popular attraction, so one usually has to line up outside the museum to enter it. Claude Monet chose this museum to display his 8 very large format water lily paintings, known as the Nympheas. On the upper gallery, there are two large oval rooms that house the Nympheas. The oval rooms were custom designed so that 8 huge paintings of the water lilies fit exactly on the walls. The paintings show how the water lilies look during the four stations of the year. Each painting measures 6 x 2 meters.

This museum also has the Jean Walter and Paul Gillaume Collection, which has 144 paintings by Cezanne, Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani and Soutine. Paul Gillaume was a famous art dealer who sold the art of the impressionists and post-impressionists. He collected their art also. When he died at the age of 42, his beautiful widow Domenica married the mining tycoon Jean Walter and later left the art collection to the museum. You will notice that many of these artists painted Domenica.

4. Giverny - One can book a tour to Giverny to see the house and gardens of the famous impressionist painter Claude Monet. There is a tour (Paris Visions Plus) that picks you up in a minivan at your hotel and drop you off at your hotel when the tour is finished. The tour is done in the afternoon. The minivan sits only 8 tourists and the driver, who is also your guide and one can ask for a tour in English. The guide gives one a lot of information about the places one passes and background information about Giverny.

Giverny is in Normandy, north of Paris, and is about an hour and a half away from Paris. The good thing about the minivan is that it feels like one is in a private car, much better than being on a bus. Besides one can get a very personalized tour when one is with few people. There is more time to ask questions.

One arrives at a small country town with a lot of charm. The guide parks the minivan at a parking lot and tells the passengers what time they have to be back. The guide brings one to the house of Monet and gives one his ticket. One is to start with the water garden, across the street from the house. There is an underground connecting corridor and then one just follows the path that leads one to a very large pond, fed by water from a stream. There one sees the famous water lilies that Monet liked so much to paint. The paths are also bordered with flowers. One can see a professional gardener working on the flowers. Anyway it is very peaceful, just looking at the water lilies.

Then one goes to see the house. The house is on a slight rise from the street. There are rows and rows of flowers, of many different kinds, all leading to the house. The perfume from so many flowers is intoxicating. The house is a large farm house and on the first floor one sees the salon where Monet painted. On the walls there are reproductions of some of his famous paintings, all originals being in museums now. On the second floor are his bedrooms, most of them small in size. Later one goes back to the first floor and sees the dining room and kitchen, both of these rooms being big. One can imagine that Monet was very comfortable in his house, and enjoying all his flowers.

Later one goes to the American Art Museum, close to Monet’s house. When Monet was alive, many American and European artists went to Giverny to paint with Monet. They learned a lot from him and Monet liked their company. Many of these artists became impressionists also. This museum displays the work of these artists. The museum is owned by the Terra Foundation for the Arts, based in Chicago. This museum in Giverny has a very large bookstore selling a wide variety of art memorabilia.

When one goes back to Paris, one can say that this trip was a marvelous experience, something that one will always remember in his life. The flowers in the gardens are overwhelming. So much beauty! And to have seen the house of one of one’s favorite artists!