Monet's Garden

Monet is just wonderful.  I saw one of his paintings once, in a castle ruin on the top of a hill in a small village in Italy.  The painting was on loan from the Prince of Monaco, and it was in a dark room behind like probably a meter thick glass, and two guards either side of it!  Even under those intimidating circumstances - or maybe because of it - the painting took my breath away.  It was captivating and arresting, and I couldn't stop looking.  It seems that if I looked just a moment longer, I will see the light dancing across the water, or something.  To me it seemed he really knew how to bring an ordinary, soft, quiet moment alive on a canvas.  I wondered whether the Prince of Monaco ever stared at the painting for hours?

He is known as the father of Impressionism, he was fascinated with painting the French country side, often painting the same scene over and over to show the changing of light or seasons.  He also loved painting outside, using natural light, and famously created his lily pond garden later in life, of which he painted many masterpieces.  

The actual name of this painting is The Artist's Garden in Argenteuil (A corner of the Garden with Dahlias) - you can see why I shortened it!  This lovely image was painted in 1873.  I loved the soft colours and gentle detail in this image, with the small figures walking around, enjoying the garden. 

Our 40 x 50cm version of this painting is very challenging and has 28 colours.  Each box contains a stretched, printed and numbered canvas, paint, brushes and a page detailing the numbers for an extra reference.