Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies (57 page)

Henri Matisse,
The Music Lesson
, 1917 (Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia)
A work painted soon after Matisse’s visit to Giverny.

Monet,
Self-Portrait
, 1917 (Musée d’Orsay, Paris)

Monet,
The Japanese Bridge at Giverny
, c. 1918–24 (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris)

Utagawa Hiroshige,
Inside Kameido Tenjin Shrine
, 1856–57

Monet,
Weeping Willow
, 1918–19 (Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth)

Monet,
Nymphéas
, 1907 (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Saint-Étienne Métropole) The object of Chaumier and Le Griel’s 1925 pilgrimage to Giverny.

Monet,
The Rose Path, Giverny
, 1920–22 (Musée Marmottan Monet)

Autochrome of Monet in his flower garden, c. 1921

Monet at work in his large studio, 1920

The Setting Sun
in Room 1 of the Orangerie, flanked by Morning (L) and The Clouds (R)

The Two Willows
in Room 2 of the Orangerie

Claude Monet’s house in Giverny today

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I AM GRATEFUL
to everyone who assisted me over the course of my research and writing. I’m extremely thankful, as always, to have George Gibson as my editor and publisher. His editorial acumen and patient advice are much appreciated, as is the friendship that now stretches back over five books and more than fifteen years. George was part of this book from conception through publication, and he was never too busy—despite being the busiest person I’ve ever known—to discuss the most abstruse details or to ponder how they fit into the larger picture. His many strokes of the pen and thoughtful injunctions improved the manuscript immeasurably.

My other huge debt is to Paul Hayes Tucker. Despite a hectic schedule and numerous other commitments, he responded to my queries and then generously read the manuscript in full. Over the course of his career, Dr. Tucker has enlarged and deepened our understanding of Monet’s life and work through both his books and the major exhibitions he has curated. Particularly important for me was
Monet in the 20th Century
, which I saw at the Royal Academy in London in 1999. My well-thumbed and much-pored-over copy of his catalogue for this exhibition was—like his 1995 biography of Monet—never far from my reach as I worked. I was truly privileged to have him offer his expertise, and to suggest refinements, nuances, and outright corrections.