Over the years I have had a personal relationship with the works of Claude Monet. I remember being introduced to his work in a grade school art class by Miss Driscoll at OLPH in the early 1960’s. Even at that early age the paintings of the “Impressionists” dazzled my imagination and soul. The newly released book, Everyday Monet, by Aileen Bordman is worthy of everyone’s attention because the composition of the effort in both words and layout of is itself a work of art.
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Everyday Monet. (Courtesy Photo) |
Everyday Monet fascinated me so much I actually reached out to the author to request permission to write this article. Everyday Monet is for sale even at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop. The book is that critically acclaimed already. I asked Ms. Bordman how her book directly relates to the Hamptons. She said, “Everyday Monet captures the beauty of nature, the joy of entertaining and everyday life at Giverny….a life that today is lived and mirrors the joy experiences at the Hamptons.” I couldn’t agree more. So I pressed her to expand and she said, “If Claude Monet we’re alive today, there is no doubt he would be seen with a glass of rosé, and easel trying to catch the light as it bounced off the beautiful bays of the Hamptons.”
The color quality printing of Everyday Monet adds to the message of the book that goes so far beyond being just “A Giverny-inspired gardening and lifestyle guide to your best Impressionist life.” Aileen Bordman offers insights and suggestions to bring simple Monet concepts into you own home, such as gardening in practical ways. There is even a “Monet Flowering Calendar” that lists a collection of Monet’s flowers of each month of the year.
Ms. Bordman devotes a chapter on Monet’s concepts for arranging flowers for different locations in your home or even workplace. It is just such a pleasant journey of the mind to flip through the pages and look at the artwork while you read and adsorb her words and insights on in her text.
Years ago for one unique year I weekly brought my daughters to the New York Metropolitan of Art to absorb the genius of the third floor Impressionist painters. Years later my oldest daughter while studying her junior year of Smith College in France visited Giverny and was so inspired she even wrote to me about it. Everyday Monet has as much power as did her letter home, only with so much more content.
Over the years I have been assigned many books to review. In this instance I requested to be able to pen this article because Everyday Monet captured me instantly when I read about it months before it was released. Full disclosure I did not know the author before I saw an article about this book, but now I am hoping my wife Cindi and I can attend a book signing/talk to learn even more about this effort. I believe you can go on Amazon and peek at some of the pages. If you enjoy the works of Monet, I strongly recommend you at least do that. I suggest you purchase it too.
This will be a book that never ages, just like the works of Claude Monet. The content of Everyday Monet will be relevant for many years to come.
