Mad Enchantment

This is not a biography of Monet’s life. It is not a review of his prolific body of work. It is a story of the last 20 years or so, of the last living, and arguably greatest, Impressionist artist. The story is well positioned amidst the historical transition in France from the Belle Epoch through the horrors of German occupation in WWI. Some reviewers were disappointed by the focus on Clemenceau....I felt it was a bonus. Their lives were clearly intertwined, and I felt that I learned a lot about the marvelous old Tiger and his own epic role in history, and his strong advocacy for Monet.My strong likes include the accurate portrayal of Monet’s retreat to Giverny, and how he generated hundreds of paintings with his intermingled love of gardening on a grand scale. Compared to a sterile or idealized portrayal of Monet, I love the portrayal of Monet’s humanistic features: the good and the bad. We witness an artist, recognizing that he is past his prime, and close to death, physically and mentally struggling to complete one last epic work: the Grand Decoration. These are the black times in the closing years of any great artist.The book could well be considered the final chapter of Mr. King’s wonderful book “The Judgement of Paris”. Without reading that book first, “Mad Enchantment” could seem very incomplete. We learn for instance, that there are still strong critics of the whole Impressionist movement in the 1920’s, just as there were at the start of the Impressionist movement. Also since this book focuses on the struggles to complete the Grand Decoration with the water lilies, it skims over the dozens, if not hundreds, of other paintings produced by Monet during this time. If the story line seems disjointed it’s because Monet's efforts were mercurial during this period, ranging from frenetic painting, to months of inactivity, to months of physical struggling with his cataracts.Mr King is a great story teller. His great skill is placing the subject of his writings into appropriate historical context. He did the same with “Brunelleschi’s Dome”. I came away with a real sense of Monet’s last years, a greater impression of his will to live and create, and a real sadness for his personal struggles at the end of his life. He becomes “knowable” like a real acquaintance....and perhaps that is the greatest feat of Mr. King’s work.For readers who want a complete overview of the life of Monet and his work, there are other bibliographies. Carla Rachman’s 1997 effort for the Phaidon series of artists, is a good example. In fact there are many similarities of how Rachman and King record the last years of Monet’s life.

Full disclosure: I am an unrepentant fan of Monet, from his early experiments with light through the awe-inspiring panorama exhibited in l'Orangerie whose conception and implementation motivate this book. The Water-Lily project occupied much of the last decade-plus of Monet's life, hence was inevitably influenced by much that Monet experienced throughout this period: the personal tragedies of deaths in his family; the grand tragedy of World War I; the impact both of Monet's rather difficult personality and of his life on a pedestal during this period. But the story did not end even with Monet's death. The Water Lily exhibit that millions now queue up for had yet to endure the major "anti-Impressionism" art movement of the early-to-mid 20th century, until the post-World War II revival of appreciation of Monet and his oeuvre. I understand fully how many readers will chafe at King's detailed descriptions of the history that impacted Monet and of the personalities (mainly Clemenceau) that so influenced him, but I believe that one cannot fully understand the man and his mission without appreciating the magnitudes as well as the natures of these external influences. The book develops its portrait of Monet with sober sympathy: a difficult yet dedicated genius. As a final note, I really appreciatedKing's discussion in the Epilogue, of the artistic details in the "Water Lilies".

King writes about the last years of the life on Claude Monet (1840-1926). I know very little about Monet and his paintings. All my education has been in the area of science. Now that I am older and retired, I am attempting to expand my knowledge.As a World War One history buff, I was most interested in the part about World War One in France. I learned a different viewpoint of the effects of the War. I found how various artists helped during the war from paintings of battles to the discovery of camouflage use by Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scevola. Artists were employed to paint camouflage netting and canvas, as well as designing new camouflage uniforms for the French Army. The world went through a significant social change after the War and the book provides a glimpse into the effect on Monet. I found the friendship with Georges Clemenceau interesting. The book is well written. It was written so that a person that has no knowledge of art could understand.I read this as an e-book downloaded from Amazon to my Kindle app on my iPad. The book is 416 pages. It was published in 2016.

This is not, nor does it pretend to be, the complete biography of Monet. Like King's other works dealing with an artist, he focuses on a specific work. In this case, Monet's painting of the Water Lilies.King looks at Monet at the end of his career, when he was asked to complete a series of paintings of water lilies to be donated to France. King documents the process by which these paintings were created. As usual, King gives the reader a sense not only of what was going on in Monet's world but in the world around him. In particular, King tells about the friendship between Monet and Georges Clemenceau.If you've read King before, you'll love this as it is up to his high standards.

I'm not really an art buff and often become confused between Manet and Monet but this book is for anyone who loves biographies, for anyone who likes to know the true flesh and blood of a life that brings the creations of that life alive. When James Joyce was asked what he did in the Great War he answered "I wrote Ulysses". Here we find that Claude Monet could have answered that he painted, gave expression to, created, the Water Lilies. And sunsets, and Weeping Willows - willows that expressed the sorrow and the torture of the Grande Guerre that played itself out while Monet, in his seventies, eyesight failing, gave us so many other canvasses of beauty.Mr King's book has many great photos of the various people associated with Monet during these years. Plus a superb section at the end, in full colour, in glorious HD, able to be zoomed in on to often reveal details of the brushwork.Truly a great book. Very much recommended. Thank you.

I loved this book and thought it was so well written, easy to read and incredibly informative. I often felt that I was there at Giverny. The atmosphere was so well described along with all the people in Monet's life and with the author making the book about the water lily painting period, it avoided a lot of unneceassry detail which one sometimes gets with art biographies. I was very interested in what was written about Clemenceau and the pivotol role he played in Monet's life. Not only is this a really good read, it is a beautifully designed book and makes the perfect gift for an art lover.

This is a magnificent account of the last years of Claude Monet. I am a huge fan of Ross King's novels - can we have another please - and have also enjoyed his works on the Last Supper and the Sistine Chapel but I think that this eclipses those books. The author is such good company. His focus is on telling the story - with flashes of humour - by not getting in the way of that narrative. As well as the story of the Water Lilies, this is also an account of the tremendous friendship between Monet and Clemenceau - whose letters to Monet are a joy and everything one could ever want from a friend - during a turbulent time for France. Enthused, I have booked my trip to Paris to see the paintings and ordered a biography of Clemenceau!

Fascinating account and illustration of Monet’s obsession with water lilies

Excellent book.