Women in the Garden

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Women in the Garden
Claude Monet 024.jpg
Artist Claude Monet   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Year1866
Medium oil paint, canvas
Dimensions255 cm (100 in) × 205 cm (81 in)
Location Musée d'Orsay, France OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Identifiers Joconde work ID: 000PE003967
Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur ID (deprecated): 21070024
[ edit on Wikidata]

Women in the Garden (French: Femmes au jardin) is an oil painting begun in 1866 by French artist Claude Monet when he was 26. It is a large work painted en plein air ; the size of the canvas necessitated Monet painting its upper half with the canvas lowered into a trench he had dug, so that he could maintain a single point of view for the entire work. The setting is the garden of a property he was renting. His companion and future wife Camille Doncieux posed for the figures. Monet finished the work indoors, and used magazine illustrations to render fashionable clothing.

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Monet at this time was early in his career, experimenting with method and subject matter. His earlier paintings were successful at Paris Salons, but Women in the Garden was rejected in 1867 on the grounds of subject and narrative weakness. This piece is simply a work that was meant to fit within his theme: the interplay of light and atmosphere. His paintings established him as a leader emerging the impressionist movement. The Salon was also troubled by Monet's heavy brushstrokes, a style which would, of course, become one of the hallmarks of Impressionism. A judge commented, "Too many young people think of nothing but continuing in this abominable direction. It is high time to protect them and save art!" [1] The painting was purchased by fellow artist Frédéric Bazille to help support Monet at a time when he had no money. [2]

Although the Musée d'Orsay, the painting's owner, comments that "Monet has skilfully rendered the white of the dresses, anchoring them firmly in the structure of the composition", Christoph Heinrich, author of a Monet biography, notes how posterity has found the painting lacking. In this view, the figures appear poorly integrated into the scene, with the woman at right "gliding across the ground as if she had a trolley concealed beneath her dress". [3] The painting's treatment of light and shadow is lauded, however, and in this respect the work may have shown Monet where his artistic path lay. [3]

Braun-Vega's appropriations

In 1984, Herman Braun-Vega incorporated Women in the Garden with The Balcony by Manet into an enlarged composition in the foreground of which two poor Peruvian women [4] are seated waiting to sell some vegetable plants piled in front of them. [5] In this painting, titled En attendant (Monet et Manet), [6] Braun-Vega highlights the contrast between the affluence of the North, represented by the Sunday-best figures of Manet and Monet, and the poverty of the South, represented by the Peruvian vegetable sellers. [7] Braun-Vega also appropriated Women in the Garden in L'attente (1983), [8] La espera en el campo (1986) [9] and Le temps des cerises (1987). [10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Quoted in Musee d'Orsay: Claude Monet, Women in the Garden. Accessed March 3, 2010.
  2. ↑ Magalhães, Roberto Carvalho de (2003). Claude Monet. New York: Enchanted Lion Books. p. 2. ISBN   1-59270-009-8.
  3. 1 2 Christoph Heinrich (2000). Claude Monet, 1840–1926. Taschen; p. 17. ISBN   3-8228-5972-9
  4. ↑ Rivais, Yak (2004). "Le montage socio-culturel" [The socio-cultural set-up]. L'art H.O.P. l'humour noir ! : L'humour noir dans les arts plastiques [Dark humor in the visual arts] (in French). Eden. pp. 80–81. ISBN   978-2-913-24594-5. Devant le « balcon » de Manet, dans le « jardin » de Monet, des Péruviens pauvres sont assis dans l'herbe parmi les dames en crinoline.
  5. ↑ Le Corre-Carrasco, Marion (2014). "L'intericonicité chez Herman Braun-Vega" [Intericonicity among Herman Braun-Vega]. Corps et territoire, Arts et littérature à travers l'Europe et l'Amérique [Body and Territory, Arts and Literature across Europe and America] (in French). Presses universitaires de Rennes. pp. 135–145. ISBN   978-2-7535-3525-1. Semblant surgir d'un photoreportage sur l'Amérique latine actuelle, la figure centrale d'En attendant (Monet et Manet) est une femme accompagnée d'un enfant, placé en retrait derrière elle. Ils sont tous deux assis en tailleur sur le sol, et vendent là quelques plantes potagères empilées en petites pyramides. Image-frontière, image-contact dans le cadre de cette composition intericonique, elle est avant tout ici la représentation prototypique d'une modeste vendeuse de marché, icône pittoresque d'un fragment de vie quotidienne d'Amérique latine.
  6. ↑ Braun-Vega, Herman (1984). "En attendant (Monet et Manet)". braunvega.com (Acrylic on canvas, 195 × 300 cm). Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  7. ↑ Fourneret, Patrick (1995). "En attendant (Monet et Manet), 1984.". Braun-Vega en 24 tableaux et un entretien[Braun-Vega in 24 paintings and an interview] (Interactive Compact Disc companion booklet) (in French and Spanish). CRDP de Franche-Comté. pp. 32–33. ces personnages [...] nous font réfléchir à la contradiction des extrêmes, aux relations Nord-Sud. Évidemment ce couple central d'indiennes ne bénéficie pas de la décontraction qui règne dans le reste du tableau. Ailleurs c'est dimanche, qu'il s'agisse de l'environnement, de la façon de se vêtir... et ici c'est le quotidien.
  8. ↑ Braun-Vega, Herman (1983). "L'attente (Monet)". braunvega.com (Acrylic on canvas, 162 x 130 cm). Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  9. ↑ Braun-Vega, Herman (1986). "La espera en el campo (Monet)". braunvega.com (Acrylic on canvas, 89 × 116 cm). Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  10. ↑ Braun-Vega, Herman (1987). "Le temps des cerises (Monet, Cézanne, Picasso)". braunvega.com (Acrylic on canvas, 146 × 114 cm). Retrieved 2025-03-25.

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