FOR EWORD
John Myatt’s paintings are a unique way to understand the spirit and methods of history’s greatest artists. His talent and insight into their lives is again breathtakingly realised in the latest additions to his Genuine Fakes collection where he has interpreted two important pieces by Impressionist master Claude Monet at his celebrated garden at Giverny in Normandy. Monet lived there from 1883-1926, and his passion for gardens led him to create a paradise where he could paint in peace; Myatt believes that the Giverny works are some of his finest.“They show him at the peak of his powers, and they were a deeply personal project for him,” he explains.“It almost seems like a crossover into music; as you’re looking at the different colours, there’s almost a symphonic element going on under the surface of the painting and music in the way those colours speak to each other. “You can really discern this when you’re actually painting – when you’re doing it from the inside, you
can see how Monet faced the problem of painting the works at Giverny, where the gardens were created for him especially for painting, enabling him to explore different lighting without travelling, already internationally famous and at last had the luxury of being able to paint for himself.” Visiting Monet’s horticultural masterpiece at Giverny, Myatt explained how, inspired by following in the artist’s footsteps, he strongly feels the sense of purpose that his garden gave Monet, and which drove him to create some of his most celebrated paintings “When Monet was painting here, he wanted to be left alone; to deliver on his own terms. If you’ve ever tried painting outside like a true Impressionist, it’s like a magnet for for people to come up and talk to you, and then you have irritations like the wind blowing over canvases and paints. So it was easier for Monet to be an Impressionist painter when he was within an environment that he had created.”
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