There was a great exhibit at the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA, The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. I was unable to get there but I did order the catalog. As the museum site writes, “This book is the first to focus on Monet’s pastels, drawings, and sketchbooks, offering a revolutionary new interpretation of the artist’s life and work. Monet has long been seen as an anti-draftsman, an artist who painted his subjects directly and whose rarely seen graphic works were marginal to his artistic process. In an effort to develop his public image, Monet denied the role of drawing in his working method. In actuality, Monet began his career as a caricaturist and as a teenager developed a passion for drawing that was never extinguished. He went on to master the medium of pastel and included seven in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.”
The book arrived and it is wonderful. Written by By James A. Ganz and Richard Kendall, the book is full of illustrations and explores the relationship of his drawing and painting. You can even see sketches of his haystacks. There is work about Honfleur, a place in Normandy I recently visited and put photos elsewhere on this blog. I highly recommend this book.
This is something I have been exploring. Here is a comparison of a drawing and a subsequent painting completed a bit afterwards.
The drawing and the painting are well executed, Bill. I've always thought that good drawing skills are the foundation of all quality artwork, no matter what the discipline. Such skills need to be acquired and refined realistically and then into a personal style. If Monet says he didn't use drawing in certain paintings, I believe him - however, having the skill internalized will always make the painting better. Good job here, I like both of these.
Posted by: Mick Mather | November 04, 2007 at 10:16 AM