i thought that this was a great book. it was wonderfully written, giving you a new understanding of the life of a great artist. not only was the book well writen but it was also full of hundreds of great recreations of monets best work.

This book gives a very good over view of his life and work. What he went through to get to where he became well known. This books is well illustrated with work that is not well known and several of his more well known work.

I found this book not only to be filled with the wonderfull works of Claude Monete but it also has a great insight to his life and the imprssion he left on modern art today. This book also contains full fold-out pictures of some of the artists best works. For anyone who has ever enjoyed any of Monets work you will love this book.

This book is a perfect addition to any art library. Having seen "Monet in the 20th Century" in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts, I was well prepared for the exhibit by having read the book first. I found the exhibit to be an extraordinary example of Monet's achievment in his later years. This book focuses on the works of Monet starting at the start of this century right up to his death in 1928. All through this period of Monet's life and including the representation of the body of work produced within those years, this book never skips a beat. Although not an all-encompassing look at his complete works of that period, this book offers the best look out there of his paintings as well as his development throughout the last quarter-century of his life. I found it to be in keeping with what is already known about Monet's later years, but certainly not devoid of interesting insights. The quality of the book, it's contents, including all of the color plates reproduced within is very good. I would not have an art library without Monet representation, and this is the ideal book for an addition or a starter.

the emperor's new clothes!!

While Monet is my favorite Impressionist artist, I have little affection for most of the work he did in the last years of his life. However, "Monet: Late Paintings of Giverny from the Musee Marmottan" is about more than the work the artist did during the first part of the 20th-century. What is fascinating about this book is how it talks about Claude Monet as a skilled landscape designer who turned his garden at Giverny into a living canvas which served as the subject for almost all of his later work.

The text of this book consists primarily of four essays: (1) "The Musee Marmottan and Claude Monet," by Arnaud d'Hauterives, the museum's curator, that briefly discusses the history of the Monet collection found there; (2) Lyn Federle Orr's "Monet: An Introduction" provides what is really an overview of Monet's body of work; (3) Paul Hayes Tucker's "Passion and Patriotism in Monet's Late Work" discusses how the artist started focusing on particular elements and enlarging them in his paintings. This essay is illustrated with not only reproductions of Monet's paintings but photographs of Monet's garden from that period; (4) "Monet as a Garden Artist" by Elizabeth Murray focuses on the strong parallels between Monet as a painter and a gardener. The essay includes a detailed diagram of both the Flower Garden and the Water Garden at Monet's home in Giverny, as well as an axial view of the two. What I like most about this book is that I learned more about the garden and its relationship to the famous paintings of the water lilies, the Japanese bridge, and the other familiar sights.

This book ends with the Exhibition of 22 paintings displayed at the Musee Marmottan, from two "Water Lilies (Nympheas)" paintings from 1903 to a painting of "The Roses (Les Roses) from 1925-1926. Almost all of these paintings reflect the darker style of his last years. However, I think with this book you will come for the paintings, but stay for the garden. Of course, now I have a strong desire to go there and see these things for myself. For a visit there, albeit a slightly fictional one, check out "Linnea in Monet's Garden," a children's book that adult will certainly enjoy by Christina Bjork and Lena Anderson.