The memory of Monet has come down to us through his works, celebrated paintings that contributed to the birth of Impressionism, an artistic movement decisive for the evolution of modern and contemporary art.
For all those who wish to return on this magic journey, we recommend a marvellous walk in the region of France called Normandy.
Once you arrive in Giverny, it is possible to reach a delightful rose plastered house where, between 1883 and 1926, Monet recreated his "artistic alcove", recreating even if in an artificial way, an intimate and colourful decor.
After restructuring, promoted in collaboration with the Academia delle Belle Arti and paid for by French and American benefactors the house was, in 1966, also thanks to the artist's son, finally opened to the public. It was entrusted to the management of the Claude Monet Foundation which has been operating in Giverny since 1980.
Every angle of the garden and the house is a continuous deja vu inside view of the works of the impressionist master.
We may quote for example the Japanese prints, a real collection composed of a hundred and thirty one "gravures", which strike the visitor and remind us that the appreciation and knowledge of Japanese Art enjoyed a golden age in France at the time of the Universal Exhibition of 1862. A new artistic style was established, particularly in painting and graphics.
Neither was literature unaffected by this invasion of elegance and in this regard, we must quote the novel of Emile Zola "Au bonheur des dames". Every impressionist had his own collection of Japanese prints and every artist sought some particular and personal references in his own collection.
Mirabeau said, of Monet 's collection of prints, that the artist had been struck by: "La rareté des rapports immobilisés sur les estampes japonaises".
The visit takes us next to the discovery of the garden, place of marvels and continous inspiration, where nature herself offers some authentic pictures which the artist transposes on to his canvas.
In front of the house we meet the Clos Normand, a rectilinear plan covered by a gallery which hosts a series of plants in a rich aerial design of colours changing according to the seasons. Through this course one reaches the so-called Jardin d'eau (WaterGarden).
Monet will buy in 1893 the land to be able to create his pond but only two years later does it see the light.
Blocked by a series of administrative problems the garden is described like this in 1924 by the celebrated gardener Georges Truffaut: "The pond is fed by the Epte and is framed by a weeping willow of Babilonia with its gilded branches. The rose garden and other plants serve to create zones of shade, while the pond hosts an important range of water lilies and a plantations of bambu.".
The list of trees and plants could be continued to infinity, including many extra-European varieties.
The contrast between these parts of the garden and the previous one is without doubt to be sought in different geometrical conceptions: the Clos Normand is severe, symmetrical, while the Jardin d'eau is unsymmetrical, exotic, suggesting the oriental conception of green spaces.
And at last we come to the "Japanese bridge", this also studied to have a perspective view "at close range", which is embellished by a multitude of little and large flowers which are transformed into spots of colour with every change of direction of the wind and every moment a ray of sunlight brushes it.
