Inspiration from the Masters.

O.K.  So, some friends and I went to an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria the other day.

(Link, http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/)

It was an exhibition of mostly the later work of Claude Monet.

Wonderful!  Breathtaking!  Unbearably beautiful!

(A small moment for name dropping.  It was put together by my friend, Dave Thompson.  I'll put a link up when I find one).

Now on with the story.

Claude Monet - Renoir.  wikipaintings

First there were a lot of pictures from throughout Monet's life, including a portrait done of Monet by Renoir.

Houses of parliament - Monet.  wikipaintings

A lot of his paintings were from his time in England.  Including one from his series of the Parliament buildings.  Definitely my favourite!

• Side note.  I so love this painting.  I don't know if you can see it here, but the shadows behind the building make it look like the building itself is almost ghosting away.  Very Dr Who.

Waterlilies - Monet.  wikipaintings

The last room was full of giant paintings, a lot of them roughs, of his garden, pond and the exquisite Japanese bridge.  Some of these paintings were bigger than a king sized bed!  One was even done on the bridge.  How he painted such sweeping strokes without falling in the pond, well, that's genius for you.

Wisteria - Monet.  wikipaintings

If these last two weren't in the actual exhibition, they are pretty close.

As an artist, (or attempting artist) this was wondrous for me.  I'm sure I annoyed some people by having to get up close to see his brushwork and how he layered color on color.  And I came very close to spouting some incomprehensible artist gabble at one stage when my friend commented that one of his paintings was "so pretty it's almost unbearable."  

Glad I didn't.

I will here, though, so if you don't like it you can scroll on.

I learnt somewhere that at the time the impressionists were exploring something new, there were new materials available to explore with.  Instead of having to work in a studio, wasting time mixing their own very expensive paints, paints could now be bought, more affordable, in tubes, easels could be folded up and carried under the arm and brushes were made, not only round, but flat, also cheaper, because they now were made with the metal 'feral' around the top holding the bristles.  So the artists could pack up their gear and hit what ever scene took their fancy.  Whether the materials inspired the art, or the art inspired the materials, I don't know.

You may not agree, but I find it fascinating!

See you on the B side.