BOB KESSEL » TWO FOR THE MONET

Limited edition prints and original contemporary art by Bob Kessel • Phone: (860)334-9438

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TWO FOR THE MONET

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MEULES paintings by Bob Kessel after Claude Monet

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“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right,
since its appearance changes at every moment;
but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life–
the light and the air which vary continually.”

- Claude Monet

Bob Kessel’s art series “2 FOR THE MONET” features pictures based on Monet’s paintings like in the picture “MEULES” shown above. These pictures are available as signed and numbered limited edition fine art prints. Contact Bob Kessel for pricing and availability.

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PETITAILLY and POPLARS prints based on the works of Claude Monet by Bob Kessel

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In the 1890s, Monet painted groups of huge canvases, some as large as 6 by 14 feet. He painted the same subject from the same angle at different times of day to discover how the changes in the quality of the light would change the shapes, mood and images of the chosen subject. In his journals, Monet recorded his method for working on the haystacks: he took multiple canvases to the field and worked for no longer than ten or fifteen minutes on each painting. As the angle of the sun changed, the colors and shadows changed, and Monet sought to paint exactly what he saw.

Claude Monet painted a series of paintings of the Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament, during his stay in London. The paintings have all the same size and viewpoint, Monet’s window at St Thomas’ Hospital overlooking the Thames. They are however painted at different times of the day and at different weather circumstances.

Monet produced numerous Haystack paintings. His earlier landscapes had included haystacks in an ancillary manner. Monet had also produced five paintings with haystacks as the primary subject during the 1888 harvest.

This series is one of Monet’s earliest that relied on thematic repetition to illustrate nuances in perception across natural variation such as times of day, seasons, and types of weather. For Monet, the concept of producing and exhibiting a series of paintings related by subject and vantage point began in 1889, with at least ten paintings done at the Valley of the Creuse, and subsequently shown at the Galerie Georges Petit. This interest in the serial motif would continue for the rest of his career.

Although the mundane subject was constant throughout this series, the underlying theme may be seen as the transience of light. This concept enabled him to use repetition to show nuances of perception as seasons, time of day, and weather changes. The constant subject provided the basis from which comparisons could be made in changes of light across this nuanced series. The first paintings in the series were started in late September or early October 1890, and he continued producing these paintings for about seven months. These paintings made Monet the first painter to paint such a large quantity of pictures of the same subject matter differentiated by light, weather, atmosphere and perspective.

Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Mornings on the Seine, Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, and the Water Lilies, among others).

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