The Brooklyn Museum has opened a groundbreaking exhibition featuring approximately 100 works by the renowned Impressionist painter Claude Monet, with a special focus on his brief but productive stay in Venice. The exhibition, titled "Monet and Venice," showcases 19 paintings from the artist's Venetian period, offering visitors a rare glimpse into a lesser-known chapter of Monet's artistic journey.
The exhibition centers on Monet's unique visit to Venice in 1908, when the 68-year-old artist reluctantly accompanied his wife Alice Hoschedé to the Italian city. During this single trip to Venice, Monet created 37 paintings capturing iconic landmarks such as the Doge's Palace and the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore emerging from the canals in his characteristic ethereal atmospheric style.
"He didn't want to leave Giverny, where he was already working on the water lilies, but he fell in love with the city," co-curator Lisa Small explained. The artist's initial reluctance transformed into deep fascination with Venice's unique light and reflective waters. However, tragedy struck when Alice Hoschedé died in 1911, preventing a planned second visit and leaving Monet to complete these paintings "in a state of sadness and mourning," according to Small.
The exhibition, running until February 1st, provides comprehensive documentation of this pivotal journey through the couple's personal archives, including postcards and photographs they collected during their stay. The 19 Venetian paintings on display show Venice's emblematic buildings observed from various distances and at different times of day, demonstrating Monet's masterful ability to capture changing light conditions and atmospheric effects.
Water and its reflections play a central role throughout these works, connecting them to Monet's famous Norman and London series, as well as his celebrated water lily paintings, which are also featured in this Brooklyn Museum exhibition. As the second-largest art museum in New York, the Brooklyn Museum provides an ideal setting for this comprehensive retrospective.
The exhibition expands beyond Monet's work to include other artistic interpretations of Venice by masters such as Canaletto (1697-1768), Turner (1775-1851), and John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), creating a broader dialogue about Venice as an artistic subject. This contextual approach helps visitors understand how different artists have captured the unique beauty and character of the floating city.
A distinctive feature of the exhibition is the musical component created specifically for the show. Niles Luther, a composer in residence at the museum, has created an original symphony that accompanies the main paintings. This musical interpretation reflects the historical tendency of art critics, particularly toward the end of Monet's career, to describe his work in musical terms. "They spoke of symphony of colors, harmony of brushstrokes, or the idea that his paintings were variations on a theme," Small noted.
The museum's innovative approach to visitor engagement extends beyond traditional visual presentation. "For us museums, it's important to try to connect with visitors through all possible means," Small emphasized, explaining how the musical element creates a more immersive and comprehensive artistic experience that appeals to multiple senses.
This exhibition represents a significant contribution to Monet scholarship and public understanding of the artist's later period. By focusing on this specific moment in Monet's career – a time when personal loss intersected with artistic discovery – the Brooklyn Museum offers visitors an intimate look at how life experiences shaped one of history's most beloved painters and his enduring legacy in capturing the ephemeral beauty of light and water.
