The book is organized into three chapters. The first chapter is a biography of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet that focuses on his gardens at Giverny. The author describes how the gardens looked at various times of day and during the four seasons. Images of some of Monet's paintings help to support the text. The chapter also includes some photographs of Monet or the gardens that were taken in the early 1900s.
In the second chapter, the author writes about the gardens as they appeared in the mid 1980s and today. She includes many of her photographs of the property. Included in this are two large images. One is of the lily pond in its lush surroundings. The second is of the entranceway at the end of the impressive Grande Allée. These images are each spread over two adjacent pages, center-fold style.
The third chapter provides ideas on how you can create the kinds of views that Monet created, whether you have sprawling property or just a balcony. She also includes tips on how to make your home's entrance more welcoming.
Several appendices of resources follow, but there is no index. A table of contents, acknowledgements and introduction are included, as well as a green ribbon marker. I found no spelling or grammatical errors.
I've not studied art history, so I enjoyed learning about Monet's intense interest in gardening from this book. I could identify with Monet's habit of dashing off to capture a magically-lit landscape scene on canvas because it's what I enjoy doing today with my camera. One appendix features a listing and description of the colors that Monet frequently used.
My ignorance of Monet may have added to my appreciation of this book. On the other hand, my unfamiliarity with plants made the book difficult for me to fully enjoy. I wished I had a plant catalog next to me while reading chapter one, which included sentences such as this one, "Planted over the bulbs in complimentary colors were pansies with their little faces, long-lived English primroses, sweet-scented wallflowers in golds, oranges and rust, crowns of pink or blue columbine, and spice-scented stock, all blooming in great masses of molten colors within lavender frames of aubrieta." It sounds impressive, but I cannot visualize it, and the Plant Cultivation appendix doesn't include a photo for these and many other specimens.
Overall, "Monet's Passion" is a beautiful book, with lovely images both inside and on the jacket. Let it grace your coffee table for guests to admire, or plan your next garden plot with it.
- This review was posted to LibraryThing on 2010-05-25.
- More reviews can be found here.
- I received a free copy of this book in order to write this review.
- As an associate of Amazon.com, I receive a small cash award for each click-through-purchase of "Monet's Passion: Ideas, Inspiration, and Insights from the Painter's Gardens."
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