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Olive Tree Wood in the Moreno Garden
Claude Monet
Date: 1884
In the Footsteps of Monet at Bordighera
By Michael Schuermann
08/01/2014 02:42 pm ET
The French painter Claude Monet spent one winter — the early part of 1884 — in the Italian town of Bordighera, having been introduced to this part of the Riviera by his friend Renoir the year before. Monet was 43 at the time, already an accomplished artist with some “signature” paintings under his belt, but by no means the international superstar of his later years and still working to evolve his “mature” style. His financial affairs, too, were largely unsettled — he had already moved to Giverny, but only as a tenant, and would still have to work hard for another five years before he had the funds to buy the house for himself and his large patchwork family.
Most of the townscapes and landscapes that provided the motives for the great impressionist painters can be easily identified in today’s modern world, and although this is generally true for Monet’s works as well (Saint Lazare train station, Rouen Cathedral), it is not the case for Bordighera. This is mainly due to two reasons.
Firstly, Monet appeared to be less interested in the specifics of Bordighera and more in a Platonic ideal of “the south” — intense sunlight, lush vegetation, exotic plants. (For Monet - a child of the North, born in Paris and raised in Normandy — the experience of this “other world” was an important step towards the development of his mature style: his Bordighera paintings appear to have more in common with his famous later works — Rouen Cathedral, the Giverny gardens — than with anything that he had painted up to that date.)
And secondly, because Monet’s painterly interests focused on the gardens of Francesco Moreno, and these gardens — internationally famous during Monet’s time — no longer exist. Moreno was a rich citrus fruit merchant, and when he lost all his money — briefly after Monet’s visit, as it happens — the land was used to build an entire new town of shops and residential homes. Nearly all of modern Bordighera except for the Old Town was built on what was once Moreno’s land.
To retrace Monet’s steps, walk straight from Bordighera train station into Corso Italia — crossing Via Vittorio Emmanuelle II — until you reach Via Romana, already flanked by many sumptuous villas in Monet’s time (although it was just a dirt road then). The road has preserved much of its ancient grandeur and tranquility.
(and etc.) by Nikko Tan
@chroniclikerrr
@CMBYNFANPAGE
Bike Rides To "B"
Turn around when you think you have seen enough of the Sentiere and walk back to town by taking a left turn into Via dei Colli and another, even sharper left into Via Garnier where, on no. 11, you can find the Villa Garnier ...
... which is featured in more Monet-at-Bordighera paintings than any other building in town, even though you may not recognize it since all you ever see on the canvas is a wall here and a column there. The villa is named after its owner and architect Charles Garnier, the builder of the Paris Opera and the casino at Monte Carlo.
(and etc.)
Bordighera, Claude Monet 1883, oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm,
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Illinois USA. Riviera Italy.
Painting Description:
The Citta Alta of Bordighera emerges from behind the pine trees.
The canvas was painted by Monet from the Torre dei Mostaccini.
That's better! Better than that--in the novel, the town is never mentioned other than the capital letter 'B',
but when you look Bordighera up on Google Maps, right near the water you find a restaurant:
Monet's Café--perfect!
click for the link: