Cataracts in the garden at Giverny

Students at Portland State University are in rare proximity to four major canvases by French impressionist painter Claude Monet, all of which can be seen at the Portland Art Museum until Jan. 31. Among them is the famous “Water Lilies” and its companion piece “Nympheas.”

The importance of this pairing cannot be overstated, as the subject of these large oil paintings became the primary obsession of the artist’s life. The works are part of a series of some 300 canvases depicting Monet’s flower garden and pond in Giverny, France. A 1906 “Nympheas” from the same series famously failed to sell at a Sotheby’s auction in London last June, despite being bid up to a price of £29 million.

“The chance to study two masterworks conceived and executed with the same palette, in the same place, perhaps a few days apart is a unique opportunity,” said Bruch Guenther, chief curator at the Portland Art Museum.

This exceptional opportunity for comparison is something that impressionist devotees should take advantage of, as it highlights a key aspect of the artist’s work. Monet’s entire artistic life was dominated by motifs involving the exhaustive production of works relating subject and perspective. For the first time ever, Oregonians can see an example of this in person, from one of the most intensely creative periods of Monet’s life. This water lily motif dominated the majority of his artistic output during the final 30 years of his life.

While “Nympheas” will be on loan to the museum until April 31, the more famous centerpiece, “Water Lilies” will only be displayed until Jan. 31. Its brief, historic visit to Oregon is all the more miraculous considering that the painting has been loaned only seven times in the past 50 years.

Miraculous also is the fact that many of Monet’s depictions of his water garden were painted while the artist suffered from cataracts.

In addition to “Water Lilies” (1914–15) and “Nympheas” (1914–17), the Portland Art Museum will also be showcasing two earlier works by Monet, which serve to show the artist’s development throughout his career. “River at Lavacourt” (1879) highlights the wealth of artistry that Monet could mine from the motifs that surrounded him. This depiction of a scene on the banks of the river Seine uses an entirely different palette, capturing a rare winter scene.

The sparse scene couldn’t be more different from the motifs used in Monet’s water lily period, yet this impressionist scene was painted only a short distance away from the pond at Giverny. Some of this can be attributed to the artist’s development, his characteristic use of varying lightings from different times of day, as well as the seasonal contrast. However, there is also a contrast between his pre- and post-cataract work. Works from his later life were sometimes characterized by a deeper, reddish hue. While this is common to sufferers of cataracts, and evident in some of his water lily period paintings, it is not pervasive throughout the motif.

“Le Chateau d’Antibes” (1888) is another early work from a period when Monet seemed more interested in the scenic than obsessed by the subject matter of his paintings. It is a beautiful representation of light and texture, depicting a Mediterranean chateau with a kind of quiet certitude. The earlier works are a stark contrast to “Water Lilies” and “Nympheas,” with the small collection of canvases serving to offer a rare glimpse into the artist’s obsessions and the transformative effect that they had upon his work.

While these works have been on display together for just over one week, they are already generating no small amount of interest from local art patrons. This revival can likely be equally attributed to the rarity of the works, as well as the time-honored tradition of obsessing over artists’ obsessions. The temptation to seek better understanding of an artist’s work through an understanding of his obsessions is not always fruitful. Like all creatures of habit, tradesmen are often best understood through the more mundane aspects of their craft, the tedium of their daily existence. As Monet’s obsession and daily existence gradually became one and the same throughout his final decades, the temptation becomes even greater. ?