"He led a band of rebel artists then: Renoir, Degas,
Pissarro, Sisley, Morisot.
Rejected for using bright colors, tangled
brushstrokes; condemned for their impressions.
Now art dealers and collectors wait to see as
Monet sees. Monet waits only for the light."
Barb Rosenstock has described for me, and many others, some outstanding artists: Kandinsky, Van Gogh, Chagall, and now Claude Monet. With her equally talented collaborator, Mary Grandpre, the books they produce are fine examples of just how informative and appealing it can be to learn about artists and their work.
Here, they imagine a morning that may have been spent by Mr. Monet, an impressionist painter widely admired. He begins in the middle of the night for most of us (3:30 am). He walks down to the river where a boat, and an assistant joins him in a row boat that takes them to the flat-bottomed boat where he will work. The helper takes fourteen paintings from their wrapper and places them in order from dark to light. The boat is Monet's studio and he has come to paint. He makes all preparations for his day's work ... and gets to it.
"Painting the river's colors, and the air
around the colors. Monet wipes his brow;
it is not easy to paint air."
He works until the morning light is no longer right, and then moves on to the next painting. When he is done, he returns home. He does everything for his art, always wanting to keep it private. It is work ... 'it is MAGIC!' His story is passionately told; his talent with light on full display as shown on every page in gorgeous acrylic and ink artwork.
In back matter, an author's note extends the learning, and a list of resources is added.
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