Today, I made a visit to one of my favorite spots in the Museum; standing in front of the enormous Water Lilies painting by Claude Monet in Gallery P31. Generally, when I enter the gallery, I head straight for this painting. This time, after spending a few moments considering the amazing canvas of colors and swirls, I took the time to reaquaint myself with other works of art in the space including three lovely paintings by Pissarro, portraits by Manet and Caillebotte and two dazzling works from the Decorative Arts collection.
For the first time, I realized that there are actually four paintings by Monet in this little room. Just to the left of Water Lilies are two snow scenes. One is View from Argenteuil - Snow from 1874-1875 and the other is the landmark painting Boulevard des Capucines from 1873-1874 that was shown at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. I have appreciated these paintings on many occasions however there was one more that I don't recall having seen previously.
In the corner before you move into the next gallery, is Mill at Limetz (above) from 1888. The vibrant scene shows the mill in the background looking across the Epte River. There are two things that I really love about this painting. One is that the view is partially obscured by low hanging tree branches. It is as if you are on the river bank peering through the dark green curtain of foliage.
The second is that Monet has used such vibrant colors to capture the dancing sunlight on the leaves and the river. The reflection of both the tree and the mill on the opposite bank blend together to give the water an iridescent quality. The label explained that this painting was probably a response to Georges Seurat and Paul Signac whose pointilist style emerged in the 1880s to "bring order" to the loose brushwork of the Impressionists. This powerful canvas certainly places Monet as the greatest of the Impressionists; something that I think he was definately proud to be.