A few weeks ago, my editor told me to write about the five Monet paintings on display at the Portland Art Museum through Aug. 5. More specifically, he tasked me with “getting all the uncultured cretins off their lazy asses and into that museum before it’s too late.”
A few weeks ago, my editor told me to write about the five Monet paintings on display at the Portland Art Museum through Aug. 5. More specifically, he tasked me with “getting all the uncultured cretins off their lazy asses and into that museum before it’s too late.”
This is a tall order, but I’ll do my best to prove that I am not one of those uncultured cretins.
Last week, an avid Vanguard reader delivered a copy of my Limits of Control review with his or her edits. According to the peanut gallery (aka the PSU chapter of the Jim Jarmusch Fan Club) my articles lately have been “an example of a mediocre, uncultured mind trying to feel less mediocre.”
Cultured minds like art, right? And Monet is, like, totally famous. So if you’re not an uncultured cretin (or aspire to rise above your current mediocrity), you really ought to check out these five paintings—they’re way more satisfying than watching lame art films. Zing!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Seriously, though: For $12 (the cost of regular admission to the museum), Portland State students can purchase a card good for unlimited entry to the museum through the month of August. That’s right: For the cost of a ticket to see the latest summer blockbuster, you can get into the Portland Art Museum for an entire month!
Pacific Northwest summers are over almost before they’ve begun, and if you need to take a break from the sun, you could do worse than spending a few hours at the museum (their air conditioning is top-notch, in case you were wondering). But, honestly, the five Monets on display here don’t quite merit a special trip unless you really, really love Monet.
The museum does a great job of promoting its special exhibits, and this one is no exception. The tagline sums up this Monet display perfectly: “For 100 days this summer, experience Claude Monet’s fascination with his garden and the magic of light reflections on the river in a special exhibition of five of his masterpieces,” the museum’s materials advertise.
If you already have a membership, you already know how you feel about Monet.The museum has two paintings, Water Lilies and River at Lavacourt, in its permanent collection. If you’ve been in the Impressionist gallery, you’ve likely seen them. If you’re hankering for more Monet, it’s worth seeing the three additional paintings. Together, the five paintings span 25 years of Monet’s career.
Regatta at Argenteuil and The Seine at Argenteuil, the most explicitly summery paintings of the bunch, show early experiments with light and Monet’s desire to capture the essence of a moment. They somehow have more movement than the later piece on display and the two in the permanent collection, which are a far better representation of what casual art fans think of when they picture a Monet painting.
Monet is known for having painted the same subjects (his garden, the Seine) multiple times; the Water Lilies in the museum’s collection are just a few of the many he painted.
Most comparisons of Monet’s work, though, deal with the painter’s slowly deteriorating vision. This focus on his early Impressionist work is a unique opportunity to study how his techniques and methods evolved well before his eyesight entered the equation.
If you’re not a Monet buff, though, the seven-minute interview with Chief Curator Bruce Guenther on the museum’s YouTube channel will give you a reasonable idea of what you’re missing.
There’s really no excuse for PSU students not to check out the museum a few times a year—there’s a lot of cool stuff in there. But if you’re not a diehard Monet fan, don’t feel too bad about waiting for winter to make your pilgrimage to this temple of culture.
I happen to stare at a lot of boats on the Willamette when I take my dog to Sellwood Riverfront Park, so I’m glad I saw these paintings. Maybe my sketchbook will be less boring.
I think Portland probably gets a few more than 100 days of sunshine, so the sun might stay in town longer than these Monets (the three visiting paintings leave in just two weeks). If I’m going to spend a sunny day inside, though, the museum is going to have to do better than these paintings.
Apologies to my editor, but this cretin would rather go to the beach than to the museum. And if this cretin gets sunburned at the coast and wants to fork out $12 for the privilege of air conditioning, she’ll go see The Dark Knight Rises, because it won’t be in theaters forever—but the muesum will always have at least two Monets.
(Seriously, though, if you go see Prometheus instead of going to see these paintings, you should be ashamed of yourself.)
