The Marmottan-Claude Monet Museum

Wednesday Feb 16, 2011
To continue my quest to follow the impressionist trail I set out at 10:30am (a little late) and headed to the St-Michel Notre-dame metro/RER station. After a bit of delay when the only ticketing machine was being "re-booted" I finally got my tickets and was on my way. I got off at the Boulainvilliers-La Muette station. Thinking this double name station was all one station I headed off to walk to the museum. Very soon I relaise that navigation was not going well. A quick adjustment though some narrow street I was back on track, Probably lost 15 minutes or so but I saw some additional Parisian community life which wasn't on the plan - that's OK. I arrive at Muette Place and then proceeded along the rue Ranelagh to the Marmottan-Claude Monet Museum. I pause to have lunch in a large park just before the Museum and, being winter, all trees were bare and the garden were all being prepared for the cold and plants were being dug up.

My description of the Marmottan Monet gallery will have to wait as Fritz has come in and explained the details of the Ski trip they are planning now - looks great. We are leaving on the 2300 night train to Bradonecchia (near Genolble in the south). We now have to do some planning and prepartion. I'll have to go to the Orangenie Museum on Thursday because I have a ticket - a lot to fit in but I should have time to up-date this post on Thursday.


The Marmottan Monet gallery
This is a very large collection of the rest of Monet's work by family and private collectors. While it does not contain many of Monet's best painting there are some that are very interesting.
eg
Gare St Lazare 1877
Impressie Soleil Levant 1872
Paintings of his children, Portrait of Bertha Morrison. (I'll add more from my notes later)
There was a nice portrait of Claude Monet and Madam Claude Monet both by Renoir

In general I found this museum an educational exercise and allowed me to see the development of Monet's thinking as he got older and diverged from his impressionist compatriots. The large number of Water Lily painting where almost overwhelming as were the many Avenue of Roses, the Basin of Nymphs and the Japanese Bridge. He spend a huge amount of his time constructing his garden in Girverny. You could see the development of his ideas on light and reflections. This collection are, in the main, a collection of his experimentations. Monet's successful works are found in the major museums as the Mussee d'Orsay.

After studying Monet for some days now I have come to a personal stand that I have a preference and respect for the technical mastery of Manet and the brilliance and colour of Renoir. I believed they achieved real results while Monet was experimenting with abstraction in landscape.

It Museum was an important for it educational value.