Catherine de Duve - The Little Monet: A Fun and Cultural Moment for the Whole Family!

The Little Van Gogh

The Little Renoir

The Little Monet

The Little Degas

The Little Klimt

The Little Turner

The Little Bruegel

The Little Van Eyck

The Little Rubens

The Little Czanne

The Little Waterloo

Marie-Antoinette

A History of Belgium for children

Before you start reading, take a sheet of paper and several pencils.
You will need them to do the exercises.

Whenever you see this pencil, it is your turn to play!

To Charlotte

In his studio at Giverny, painted huge pictures that became some of the most famous paintings ever made. His inspiration came from the magnificent garden he had planted and his pond full of water lilies. Now as he wandered in the garden and sat by the pond, Monet thought back to the many good times hed had with his family in the big pink house at Giverny.

He could still hear the childrens laughter as they played hide and seek in the garden, and he remembered the fun they all had fishing in the river nearby.

Germaine, Suzanne, Blanche

Monets home at Giverny was full of colour and activity. Marguerite, the cook, made delicious meals in the big blue and white kitchen.

The family sat down to eat together in the bright yellow dining room. All the colours of the rainbow could be found outside in the garden. Monet loved living in the country. After he and his family moved to the big pink house in Giverny, Monet exclaimed, I am in ecstasy. Giverny is a splendid place for me!

Which part of Monets house and garden do you like the best?

caricature

Oscar-Claude Monet was born on the 14th of November in 1840. When he was five, his family moved to the seaside city of Le Havre in Normandy. At school, when he got bored, Monet drew funny pictures of his teachers. Soon he was selling caricatures of townspeople in a local shop. One day, Monet met the landscape painter Eugne Boudin, who became his mentor. They painted together at the beach and on cliffs overlooking the sea. Monet loved to paint outdoors. Once, when a journalist asked to see his studio, Monet gestured to the countryside around them. My studio? This is my studio!

Monet and Boudin were among the first artists to paint outdoors, instead of sketching scenes outside and later painting them in the studio. Paint tubes had recently been invented, making it easier for artists to paint anywhere they wanted.

In France in the 1800s, women wore long dresses to the beach and carried parasols to shade themselves from the sun!

If I have indeed become an artist, I owe it to Eugne Boudin.

Eugne Boudin

It is summer by the sea. Holidaymakers lounge in the sun and watch the boats go by. Some of the vessels on the horizon are sailing ships with tall masts. Others are more modern steamships, a recent invention! Can you tell which is which?

How many small boats are sailing nearby? How many steamships do you see on the horizon?

At 18, Monet went to Paris to study art. Soon after, he was drafted and sent to Algeria to serve in the French army. He was fascinated by the intense light and dramatic colours of North Africa, but he soon became ill and was shipped home. On his return to Paris, he joined the art studio of Charles Gleyre, a famous Swiss artist. There he met Auguste Renoir and other young painters who shared his passion for art.

Monet, Renoir and their friends soon began creating a new art style that became known as Impressionism.

Monet looked out the window of a friends studio to paint this winter scene in Paris. He captured the hustle and bustle of the city with small, quick brush strokes. He made everything look a little out of focus, conveying a sense of movement. Horse-drawn carriages go by as people bundled in warm coats stroll along the boulevard. The whole scene pulses with energy!

Everything in the painting is just barely suggested. Look carefully! Can you find:

• a newspaper kiosk
• a man selling balloons
• drivers atop their carriages
• a line of parked carriages
• a top hat
• trees along the boulevard

Times were hard for Monet. He wasnt selling any paintings and his parents were worried that he wouldnt be able to make a living as an artist. Monet wanted to prove himself by painting a huge work of art. He found inspiration in the nearby forest of Fontainebleau where he decided to paint a picnic scene. He asked his artist friends, Gustave Courbet and Frdric Bazille, to pose for him. His two friends posed several times as different people!