Now on display at the Portland Art Museum (Portland, Oregon) through August 5, 2012 are five works by Monet. The Museum has supplemented two of Monet’s paintings from its permanent collection, Waterlilies and River at Lavacourt, with three works from a private collection to stage this special showing entitled “Five Monets / 100 Days.”
The five paintings cover a 25-year period of Monet’s career and show his development as an artist through a comparison of these popular works featuring gardens and rivers. Viewers will enjoy this exceptional opportunity to see Gladiolas in the Garden, The Seine at Argenteuil and Regatta at Argenteuil.
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) is considered to be the founder of the Impressionist style of painting. The term originated from one of his early works entitled Impression, Sunrise. Impressionism was developed by a group of artists working in Paris, France during the late 1800’s. The style was initially rejected by critics and the art community, but later gained widespread popularity. Monet is probably best known for his later work; paintings of the water lilies in his garden at Giverny, France.
The style makes use of small brush strokes and color to create an “impression” of the subject as opposed to the highly-realistic paintings of prior masters. Impressionist paintings are characterized by their depiction of commonplace subjects, often of outdoor scenes, and by the way they capture the changing qualities of light and movement. The paintings were typically created at the scene, a technique known as “plein air.” Other renowned impressionist painters were Renoir, Manet, Sisley, Pissarro, Cézanne, Morisot and Cassatt.
Bruce Guenther, Chief Curator, provides an overview the five paintings in a video presentation released on May 1, 2012 by the Portland Art Museum. The Museum is currently hosting several special exhibits in addition to their permanent galleries of European, Asian and American art, prints, photography, Native American artifacts and more.
Museum hours are 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday; 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Thursday and Friday; 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM Sunday. The Museum is closed on Mondays and major holidays. General admission for Adults is $15, Seniors and College Students, $12. Children 17 and under are free.
