This weekend I had the pleasure of seeing the exhibition of “Monet: The Late Years” at the deYoung.
The exhibition was touching for me in many ways:
I am always inspired by individuals who found or continued to innovate in the second half of natural life.
I have a particular soft spot for impressionism.
I adore the way that Monet moved art forward and created much of what becamse 20th century artistic standards.
I appreciate how he found so much to talk about by diving deep into one subject and looking at it from different perspectives and at different times.
He was a successful artist in his life, but still pushed the envelope and was not able to sell his new style of works.
And also because he painted his entire life, even after some devastating losses and when he was in his 70s with worsening eyesight due to cataracts, eventually ending up legally blind in one eye and with 10% visibility the other, he still painted amazing art like this weeping willow. (Which is one of a series he did at the end of World War I.)
Wow.