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Seventh Art Blog

DISCOVERING ART… MONET

by: Phil Grabsky

June 18, 2020

Vase of Flowers, Claude Monet, 1881-1882, The Courtauld Gallery, London

VASE OF FLOWERS

BY CLAUDE MONET

The Courtauld is a treasure trove of a gallery in the heart of London. I must admit that until we made a 3-part series about it a few years ago I had never been – and, my word, how many wonderful paintings I had missed. You know the painting of Van Gogh with the bandaged ear? Or Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergère? Yes, both at the Courtauld.

A rather less well-known painting – albeit by one of the all-time greats – is Vase of Flowers by Claude Monet. This is one of those paintings that I am sure people too often wander past without really stopping to look and think. So, if I may, here is your opportunity. Imagine in front of you there is a blank canvas and that on to it you have decided to record a vase of flowers. Where do you start? How do you progress from first outlines to finished work? Look closely at Monet’s painting. That vase is totally credible and yet what is it exactly? Maybe it’s just those two slightly diagonal lines that convince the brain it’s a vase. Then the stems of the flowers – barely visible, dabs of dark green but so realistic. The flowers themselves are extraordinary – you feel their fragility, at the mercy of any passing breeze, and yet they are no more than daubs of paint on a flat canvas. It’s magic of sorts, don’t you think? I would love this painting on my wall at home. Nor would I be the first.

Flowers in art have been popular since the time of Ancient Egypt. Think of the gorgeous mosaics and paintings of the Romans. In Christian art, medieval art, Renaissance art there are plentiful examples of flowers not only as decorative but symbolic. Take the red carnation: in Greek it is called dianthus (flower of God) and thus often appears in paintings of Madonna and Child. Have a look at my film Leonardo: The Works and his Madonna of the Carnation in Munich.

The Dutch played a major role in the history of botanical art – their wide sea-faring empire brought not only spices back to their shores, but flowers too. Perhaps most notably is the tulip from Turkey (most likely originating from Kazakhstan which was under Turkish rule). The wealth of empire led to a house-building boom and inhabitants wanted pictures for their walls. Millions, yes millions, of paintings were produced and flowers in vases among the more popular.

France at the end of the 19th century, with its growing band of art dealers, also had a decent market for flowers in vases. Artists – often impoverished, like Claude Monet – saw the commercial appeal of making such works, and of course they liked the simplicity of the challenge. Around 1880 Monet focused on still lifes more than landscapes – again, he was following the market. Once his landscapes started to sell, he stopped with still lifes forever, although not before painting a very impressive flower called the sunflower. In 1881 he painted a handful of them, growing, as they did, along a path near his garden in Vétheuil. In 1888 Van Gogh wrote how Gauguin had told him of Monet’s painting of a sunflower but that he preferred Van Gogh’s versions. Van Gogh modestly begged to differ.

The flowers in this painting are, however, wild mallow – a plant with many uses, including (according to the Roman Pliny) use as a mild laxative. Certainly Monet found it uncomfortable, talking in his letters of the difficulties he had in painting it. Indeed he didn’t finish it completely and it was only later in life that he signed and sold it. Perhaps, yes, the angle is slightly strange or it doesn’t feel three-dimensional enough – perhaps the plant and flowers are not quite resolved enough for some – but to me it’s a wonder and just as much a draw at the Courtauld as any of the more well-known works. We are just completing a film about Van Gogh’s Sunflowers – which has been a truly fascinating and revealing journey– and both artists are excellent reminders that still life paintings are just as worthy of our attention as portraits or landscapes.

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