Claude Monet

A friend at work watched the BBC series, The Impressionists, and she mentioned that Claude Monet reminded her of me!  :)  Actually, she was referring to the artist's indignance with the Salon, and how Monet, along with Renoir, Degas, and Cezanne created their own exhibition in Paris, 1874. ("I will never show at the Salon!") 

Impressionism was initially perceived as "scandalous and heretical" (that is so great!) & so regarded with contempt that one critic proclaimed, "They have declared war on beauty." 

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Like the 1874 exhibition, my cinema program, The Invisible Film Series, was DIY!  My films were rejected from festivals, and I really had no other choice but to exhibit them myself.  Mike Park & I curated a show at the beginning of May for 5 years, and I kind of miss it right now.  Although, this endeavor took me to the beautiful world I live in, and I really cannot go back . . . Cinema is a journey! 

After seeing "The Impressionists," I realized that Monet is a guide for me.  (Finally, someone else who really loves flowers!  :)  But it's not just that Monet also was drawn to the ephemerality of nature and light, à la experimental cinema!  He seemed to know and search for the infinity in the subject of nature specifically, always changing, always new . . .

"Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love."

--Claude Monet

Monet, Claude. Water Lilies, c. 1914.

P.S.  Happy Spring!

 

Comments

[Felipe Rocha]

Good.

Great post!

[jmac]

Felipe,

Thanks so much! I'm glad that you appreciate Monet too. :)