I would love to review this entire boxed set of board books by Julie Merberg and Susan Bober, but I've only had the chance to read one of the books. It was great though and I'm confident in the entire collection.
The Mini Masters Boxed Set includes four small but sturdy board books: In the Garden with Van Gogh, A Picnic with Monet, Dancing with Degas, and A Magical Day with Matisse. If you click through to Amazon.com you'll notice that there are several more board books in the series that are not included in the set.
I have had the great pleasure to read In the Garden with Van Gogh. In fun rhymed lines, Merberg and Bober tell the story of a wheat harvest. The book is illustrated with van Gogh's paintings of wheat in all its stages of growth and harvest. And, of course, a connection is drawn between the growing wheat and growing children (who sleep beneath a starry night).
My opinion is that you can never have too many books, especially books about art. You can buy each of these board books individually but if you plan to buy two or more, it's less expensive to pick up the boxed set. Pretty good deal for an art education.
Return to main page.
Showing posts with label Monet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monet. Show all posts
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Linnea in Monet's Garden
Linnea in Monet’s Garden by Cristina Bjork is a long (56 pages) picture book, meant for ages 9-12. Depending on the child, it is also an excellent read-aloud for younger children.
Bjork invites you to travel with Linnea and her elderly friend, Mr. Bloom, to Paris and Giverny where Monet lived and worked. Stroll through Monet’s garden with Linnea as she discovers the source of the great artist’s inspiration for his water lily paintings. View the river Seine in Paris as Monet saw it. And visit a museum with Linnea to more about Impressionism and Monet’s paintings.
Gorgeous water color illustrations of Linnea’s adventures compliment the text. The book also includes black and white photos of Monet and his garden, as well as pictures of his paintings.
The book was also made into an animated movie. I have not seen it but it looks good. If you’ve seen the movie, Linnea in Monet’s Garden, please post a comment and let me know what you thought!
Return to main page.
________________________________________
Current NaNoEdMo Hour Count: 7/50hours
You'll notice that I'm still a little behind...
Bjork invites you to travel with Linnea and her elderly friend, Mr. Bloom, to Paris and Giverny where Monet lived and worked. Stroll through Monet’s garden with Linnea as she discovers the source of the great artist’s inspiration for his water lily paintings. View the river Seine in Paris as Monet saw it. And visit a museum with Linnea to more about Impressionism and Monet’s paintings.
Gorgeous water color illustrations of Linnea’s adventures compliment the text. The book also includes black and white photos of Monet and his garden, as well as pictures of his paintings.
The book was also made into an animated movie. I have not seen it but it looks good. If you’ve seen the movie, Linnea in Monet’s Garden, please post a comment and let me know what you thought!
Return to main page.
________________________________________
Current NaNoEdMo Hour Count: 7/50hours
You'll notice that I'm still a little behind...
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Claude Monet
It’s terrible that I wrote nearly 150 posts before I said anything much about Claude Monet. If he wasn’t the first impressionist, he at least gave us the word for the movement, and that's a big deal. He also created some of the greatest examples of impressionism as he experimented with light and color and learned to portray subjects with quick brush strokes.
Monet was born in Paris in 1840 but his family moved to Normandy when he was 5. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be an artist rather than go into the family grocery business, and so he went to school to learn technique. When he was 16, Monet met Eugene Boudin who taught him to paint outdoors, “en plein air.” When he went to Paris, many painters cooped themselves up in the Louvre and copied the works of the masters, as you’ve read about already on this blog, but Monet chose to develop the methods taught to him Boudin. He worked outdoors, painting scenes as he saw them rather than the way they were seen by artists who came before him.
Monet served briefly in the armed service until he became ill and had to return home. He met several budding artists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and they began experimenting with the new style that would become impressionism.
During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), Monet lived in England and studied works by great landscape artists such as John Constable.
In 1873 he painted Impression, Sunrise (shown above), the painting for which the entire Impressionism movement was named. The term “Impressionism” was originally meant as an insult by an art critic but the painters liked it and used the name to describe their style of painting.
After his wife died in 1879 (shown above on her death bed), Monet began in earnest to produce. He continued in the Impressionist style and tried to create a portrait of France with his paintings. In 1883 when he moved to Giverny and, over the next 10 years, planted his grand garden. He loved to paint the garden and the lily ponds. He painted his many series during this time, which showed the same subject at different times during the day. You’ve seen some of these series already, including Water Lilies, Rouen Cathedral, and Etretat.
Toward the end of his life, Monet developed cataracts in his eyes which affected the way he saw colors. He continued to paint anyway, but you can tell which paintings were created when his eyes were bad.
In 1926, at the age of 86, Monet died and was buried in Giverny.
Monet was born in Paris in 1840 but his family moved to Normandy when he was 5. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be an artist rather than go into the family grocery business, and so he went to school to learn technique. When he was 16, Monet met Eugene Boudin who taught him to paint outdoors, “en plein air.” When he went to Paris, many painters cooped themselves up in the Louvre and copied the works of the masters, as you’ve read about already on this blog, but Monet chose to develop the methods taught to him Boudin. He worked outdoors, painting scenes as he saw them rather than the way they were seen by artists who came before him.
Monet served briefly in the armed service until he became ill and had to return home. He met several budding artists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and they began experimenting with the new style that would become impressionism.
During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), Monet lived in England and studied works by great landscape artists such as John Constable.
In 1873 he painted Impression, Sunrise (shown above), the painting for which the entire Impressionism movement was named. The term “Impressionism” was originally meant as an insult by an art critic but the painters liked it and used the name to describe their style of painting.After his wife died in 1879 (shown above on her death bed), Monet began in earnest to produce. He continued in the Impressionist style and tried to create a portrait of France with his paintings. In 1883 when he moved to Giverny and, over the next 10 years, planted his grand garden. He loved to paint the garden and the lily ponds. He painted his many series during this time, which showed the same subject at different times during the day. You’ve seen some of these series already, including Water Lilies, Rouen Cathedral, and Etretat.Toward the end of his life, Monet developed cataracts in his eyes which affected the way he saw colors. He continued to paint anyway, but you can tell which paintings were created when his eyes were bad.
In 1926, at the age of 86, Monet died and was buried in Giverny.
Monet's Japanese Bridge at Giverny.
I'd like also to note that you can now visit Monet's garden. I have never seen it but I hope to someday!
________________________________________
Current NaNoEdMo Hour Count: 6.25/50hours
Yes, I'm a little behind. But I had to take a really long test.
That's my story.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Etretat in Art
When I set out to write this post, I remembered having seen countless paintings of the cliffs at Etretat in France (Wikipedia image). It’s true, I have seen tons, but I didn’t recall exactly how many of them were by Claude Monet.
Monet rarely painted a scene only once. He painted many series, some of which you’ve seen on this blog (water lilies, Rouen Cathedral). Monet loved experimenting with light. He would paint the same subject at dawn, noon, dusk, night, and every time in between, using color changes to show the different lighting conditions. The cliffs at Etretat were no exception. Below is the Manneporte, Etretat, painted at different times by Monet.
Monet rarely painted a scene only once. He painted many series, some of which you’ve seen on this blog (water lilies, Rouen Cathedral). Monet loved experimenting with light. He would paint the same subject at dawn, noon, dusk, night, and every time in between, using color changes to show the different lighting conditions. The cliffs at Etretat were no exception. Below is the Manneporte, Etretat, painted at different times by Monet.
And below is Monet’s The Cliff, Etretat, Sunset. I chose to show you this painting because I remember seeing it when it was included in the Monet in Normandy exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art last year and the image stuck with me. I love the sun in this painting.
It wasn’t just Monet who painted this scene, though. Below, find Gustave Courbet’s take on the cliffs in The Cliffs at Etretat and Etretat After a Storm. 
Eugene Boudin’s Etretat, The Cliff of Aval (below).
Eugene Delacroix also painted the cliffs but I couldn’t find a picture online to show you. You can always go to the library and look it up in a book if you’re interested.If you can think of any other artists who painted this scene, please leave a comment and I’ll try to add images. I'm sure I've forgotten some.
And since, in the writing of this post, I realized that I haven’t yet written about Monet’s life and work, look forward to that at some point this week.
Return to main page.
________________________________________
I am participating in NaNoEdMo, though I haven't signed up (and I'm not sure if I will). Also, I forgot about it until today (only one day late) so I'm slightly behind. I'll be caught up by tomorrow. The goal of NaNoEdMo is to dedicate 50 hours to editing a novel during the moth of March. This goal is not nearly as insane as that of NaNoWriMo so I'm confident I'll be successful. I just need a little something to spur me onward. This project will be finished by my birthday!
(Or at least much closer to finished...)
Current NaNoEdMo Hour Count: 2.25/50 hours
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Impressionists by the Sea
This will be just a quick post because I’m deep into writing the novel. I’m almost back on track to finish in time!
If you live in the Washington D.C. area there is a great exhibit going on right now at the Phillips Collection called Impressionists by the Sea. This is a collection of paintings down mostly in France in the late 1800s. Some of the paintings you’ll see were done by impressionists that you’ve read about on this blog such as Monet.
In the painting shown above, La Plage de Trouville by Monet, you can actually see the sand that was blown into the paint by the wind while Monet worked (en plen air) on the beach. That alone is worth the trip if you ask me.
If you happen to live near Hartford, Conn., this exhibit next travels to the Wadsworth Atheneum and will show from February 9-May 11, 2008.
Return to main page.
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:
21012 / 50000 words. 42% done!
If you live in the Washington D.C. area there is a great exhibit going on right now at the Phillips Collection called Impressionists by the Sea. This is a collection of paintings down mostly in France in the late 1800s. Some of the paintings you’ll see were done by impressionists that you’ve read about on this blog such as Monet.
In the painting shown above, La Plage de Trouville by Monet, you can actually see the sand that was blown into the paint by the wind while Monet worked (en plen air) on the beach. That alone is worth the trip if you ask me.If you happen to live near Hartford, Conn., this exhibit next travels to the Wadsworth Atheneum and will show from February 9-May 11, 2008.
Return to main page.
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:
Monday, October 8, 2007
Monet Painting Damaged
I have written only briefly about French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet but I thought I should say something about the events of the weekend. Early yesterday morning (Oct. 7, 2007) a group of people broke into the Orsay Museum in Paris, France. When they heard the alarm go off the group left, but on the way out someone punched through one the Monet paintings and left a four inch hole in the canvas.
I remember seeing the beautiful Le Pont d’Argenteul when I visited this museum and it makes me sad that someone would destroy it. Above, you can see a picture of the painting before it was damaged yesterday. Click here to see the damage done to Monet's painting. The tear is in the middle of the painting, just right of center, and runs horizontally. Cross your fingers that Monet’s Le Pont d’Argenteul can be fixed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
