Claude Monet's Giverny Garden

Museum of Impressionism, Japanese Water Garden, Clos Normand

Mar 5, 2009

Hailed as one of the founders of French Impressionism, Claude Monet often sought inspiration in his own Giverny Garden which reflected his passion for colour and water.

When Claude Monet glanced at Giverny through a train window, he instantly fell in love with this quiet village on the edge of Normandy. With no further ado, he moved with his family to Giverny. There, the artist set his heart on redesigning the existing garden, later adding the Water Garden which inspired some of his most famous work.

Open from April to the end of October, Monet’s Giverny Garden can be visited on a day trip from Paris (80 km) and attracts half a million tourists a year.

Clos Normand Flower Garden

Known as Clos Normand, the flower garden in front of the house covers around one hectare, replacing the original farmhouse orchard and pine alley, except for two yews saved by Alice, Monet’s companion. Monet wanted to create new perspectives, masses of colour and an informal arrangement of garden and wild flowers, including rare specimens which he collected at great cost.

From cherry blossom to rhododendron, from wisteria to roses, hollyhocks or nasturtiums, every season brings its own highlights but Giverny is at its best in the quieter summer months. Budding artists and casual visitors like to gaze at the house, seen from the rose garden, recalling how the artist painted this particular scene, mostly from memory, when his sight was greatly impaired in later years.

Inspired by his collection of Japanese prints, Monet created a Water Garden where he could study and paint the changing light and reflections which held him spellbound. The setting inspired some of his greatest paintings, namely the Japanese Bridge and Water Lilies.

Walking around the Water Garden is delightful, all quaint bridges and curves, weeping willows and bamboo and in summer, water lilies in full bloom. It is as pristine today as it was then and one can almost imagine the artist setting off in his boat for a day’s work.

At the turn of the 20th century, a large number of American artists came to Giverny, keen to explore the new techniques developed by Monet. The Museum of American Art Giverny was open in 1992, under the auspices of the Terra Foundation for the Arts, to explore the links between French and American artists.

The foundation has moved on to new projects but the venue is reopening in May 2009 as the Museum of Impressionism. Set in its own gardens borrowing just one or two of Monet’s features, this luminous exhibition centre aims to show the origins and diversity of impressionist movements. The first exhibition will be dedicated to ‘Monet’s Giverny Garden, Inventing a Landscape.’

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