Claude Monet, <em>Poplars (Autumn)</em>, 1889. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Poplars (Autumn), 1889. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Poplars in the Sun</em>, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Poplars in the Sun, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Poplars (Wind effect)</em>, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Poplars (Wind effect), c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Three Poplar Trees in the Autumn</em>, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Three Poplar Trees in the Autumn, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Three Poplar Trees in Grey Weather</em>, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Three Poplar Trees in Grey Weather, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Poplars on the River Epte</em>, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Poplars on the River Epte, c. 1891. Oil on canvas.
Poplar trees 修長秀美的枝幹,令作品由平實的 grainstacks 轉化為帶有修飾作用的唯美藝術品。
1860至1870年代,定義為 “decorative” 的作品不會帶有任何教化意味、歷史背景和諷刺時弊的信息,不會被列作高等藝術。然而經歷了數十年的沉澱,到了1890年代,decorative art 已得到應有的重視。這些藝術象徵 aesthetic purity,不受任何時代背景、政治歷史經濟等命題束搏。說到 Monet,從他的 grainstack 和 poplar trees 作品裏,我們可以看到他的藝術從來不會用以承載任何沉重的議題,而是純粹追求畫家從大自然中得到的真善美。”L’Art pour l’Art”(Art for art’s sake)的概念也逐漸在這個時期誕生。
Claude Monet, <em>The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light</em>, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Rouen Cathedral, Facade (Morning effect)</em>, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Rouen Cathedral, The Faade in Sunlight</em>, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, The Façade in Sunlight, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Rouen Cathedral, West Facade</em>, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, SunlightClaude Monet, <em>Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight</em>, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, SunlightClaude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, <em>Rouen Cathedral Setting Sun, (Symphony in Grey and Pink)</em>, 1894. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral – Setting Sun, (Symphony in Grey and Pink), 1894. Oil on canvas.
晚年歸宿:家中花園
這些 series paintings 價值不菲,Monet 藉着這些作品成為一名富翁。他用賺來的錢買下所居之地──在 Giverny 住了接近十年的家;剩下的錢,Monet 全都投資在一個重要的地方,這個地方將會帶領 Monet 步入人生最後的作畫階段──他家的花園。
Monet在Giverny的花園陪伴他走過人生最後的30多年。這段期間,Monet 經歷了妻子 Alice 和兒子 Jean 死亡,加上印象派好友相繼去世,Monet 與整個藝術圈子絕緣,即使是知名新進畫家畢卡索、Mattise 等,Monet 也一一拒絕接觸,選擇獨個兒沉醉在這個後世知名的花園。
Claude Monet, <em>In the Garden</em>, 1895. Oil on canvas.
Claude Monet, In the Garden, 1895. Oil on canvas.
整個後花園每一個角落都經過 Monet 精心的安排和計算,甚至是植物種類的栽種,也遷就一年四季的轉換和每天的光影變化而鋪排,如:橙黃、橘紅的鬱金香與罌粟栽種在西方,每天西斜時可以將日落的陽光彰顯得淋漓盡致;七彩花朵排列有序,教整個花園七彩繽紛而不失和諧。正如 Monet 所說,這是 “a garden of tones and colors rather than flowers.”
Monet 於早年普法戰爭及中年1886年時曾出訪荷蘭,雖然行程短促,Monet 卻被當地的鬱金香深深吸引。Monet 對園藝的興趣,其實在出訪荷蘭時早已萌芽。
1893年,Monet 意外購得花園附近一個小池塘,得到當地人的同意後,Monet 開始整頓整個池塘,栽種 water lilies,更建了一道 Japanese Bridge。荷花、池塘、日本橋的比例、色澤,都是經過 Monet 小心鋪排。整個花園修建完成後,Monet 正式投入他的花園世界: