#好内容我来评 #
"From Botticelli to Van Gogh: The National Gallery Collection" recently opened at the Shanghai Museum and has become a must-see for many painting enthusiasts. Among them, the impressionist painter Claude Monet's "Irises" is also worth mentioning.
Irises
Claude Monet (1840–1926)
circa 1914–1917, oil on canvas, 200.7 x 149.9 cm
National Gallery, purchased in 1967
About the painting "Irises"
Iris was one of Monet's favorite flowers, and he bred many different varieties of iris to grow in his garden.
A Pathway in Monet's Garden, Giverny,Claude Monet
During this period, Monet painted many large paintings in Giverny's studio, most of which were two meters high, the same height as the large print "Water Lilies", which was also on display at the National Gallery.
Irises，Claude Monet
The painting "Iris" has a special perspective, and the viewer seems to be standing on the Japanese bridge in the courtyard, looking down on the flowers. It resembles a sketch of an oil painting, and we can almost see Monet's painting steps from the painting, where he first paved the garden path on white canvas and painted iris bushes on both sides of the coffee-colored path. The brushstrokes are loose and intensely colorful, with purple, blue and green flying in the picture, and some critics speculate that this bold use of color is not creative, but comes from his cataract problem.
The lower right corner of the painting reveals the true colors of the canvas, so it is also possible that the painting was not finished, because at the time of his death, the painting was still in the studio.
Iris bush in a painting by Claude Monet
Magnolias and Irises，Louis Comfort Tiffany
By the end of the 19th century, there were nearly 200 different species of iris around the world, and works of iris appeared in Japanese ukiyo-e. Monet's penchant for ukiyo-e was influenced by it, and he even owned an iris print by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. He had also seen Van Gogh's Iris in 1890.
Iris flowers and grasshopper, Katsushika Hokusai
It has been rumored that Monet said after seeing Van Gogh's "Iris" at the exhibition: "How could a man who loves flowers and light so much and shows them so movingly?" Did a man who loved flowers and light to such an extent, and who rendered them so well, how, then did he still manage to be so unhappy?"
Irises，Vincent van Gogh
Under the trees in front of Monet's house and by the lotus pond in the garden, different varieties of irises are planted. In the early painting "The Water-lily pond", you can see an impressive clump of irises on the edge of the pond.
The Water-Lily Pond，Claude Monet
In 1913, his head gardener even published an article in a horticultural magazine detailing the different types of irises that grew in the garden, one of which was named "Madame Claude Monet", named after Monet's wife.
The Garden at Giverny，Claude Monet
Georges Truffaut, the great horticultural expert who visited Giverny, wrote: "The edges of the pond are densely covered with various types of iris. In spring there are Siberian iris (Iris sibirica) and Virginian irise, which have long petals and a velvety texture; Later, Japanese irise and Kaempferi irise also grew in large numbers here.
Irises，Claude Monet
Siberian iris (Iris sibirica)
What is the difference between Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet's irises in their drawing?
In some paintings, the blue-purple irises exude a melancholy atmosphere, but in others, they stretch out freely and become a cheerful bright color in the painting. Both artists show beautiful variations of light and shadow in landscape-themed paintings, with stretched brushstrokes and atmospheric images, replacing traditional rigorous perspective expression with color.
The Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool, Giverny，Claude Monet
Irises，Vincent Van Gogh
For Van Gogh, painting is the embodiment of his emotional expression, the brushstrokes are relatively thicker, the colors are more vivid and intense, and although the outline of his paintings is relatively clear, the whole exudes a more subjective atmosphere.
Irises，Vincent van Gogh
Yellow and Purple Irises，Claude Monet
Monet, on the other hand, is better at covering the picture with delicate brushstrokes and hazy tones, using dots of color as the focal point of the picture, and is happy to show the light and shadow effects of the objects in the landscape. In addition, compared to Monet's more traditional composition, Van Gogh's presentation of flowers is more abstract and chaotic.
View of Arles with iris flowers in the foreground,Vincent van Gogh
Field of Yellow Irises at Giverny，Claude Monet
Why does everyone love the theme of iris, even the few Eastern and Western painters?
In the flower language of ancient Greece, the iris represented the goddess Iris incarnated as a rainbow, she was a messenger between the gods and humans, and one of her jobs was to guide the dead to their final resting place, and the Greeks also saw the iris as a symbol of communication.
Iris appearing to Turnus，Bartolomeo Pinelli
Painters like to paint iris, perhaps because this flower has its own curvy beauty, painting comes from a sense of brush touch, full of expression, perhaps because iris is also seen as a metaphor for the beauty of life, iris has a variety of colors, can represent different emotions, but also make people love.
Which other artists have also painted famous works on the subject of iris?
In addition to Claude Monet, many Impressionists also chose the theme of iris. In addition to his contemporaries Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cézanne, modernist painters Georgia O'Keeffe, Max Beckmann also used the theme of iris flowers to show different postures of flowers.
The Blue Vase，Paul Cézanne
Still life with gramophone and iris，Max Beckmann
Georgia O'Keeffe's Light Iris is a beautiful still life painting with the theme of iris.
Light Iris，Georgia O'Keeffe
Iris flowers painted by Chinese painters
Song people painted double pine flowers and birds
In addition to European painters, there are other painters in China and Japan who have painted famous works on the subject of iris flowers. In China, the iris is a symbol of spring, vitality and change. Because the large, delicate petals resemble butterfly wings, we sometimes refer to irises as butterfly flowers. , Chinese Qing dynasty painters Dong Xu and Yun Shouping have created flowers and birds with the theme of iris, and the elegant posture of the flowers jumps on the paper.
Xia Hua Ten Frames, Qing, Dong Xuan
Iris, Yun Shouping
Kiyo Lang Shining Flower and Bird Atlas Iris
Qing Dynasty painter Ren Bonian's "Iris Passionflower" uses the boneless method, which is also quite wild.
Iris passionflower, Ren Bo Nian
Iris flowers painted by Japanese painters
The Japanese consider the iris to be a symbol of strength, clarity and benevolence. So much positivity is wrapped in one flower. In addition to the ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai mentioned above, Utagawa Hiroshige Utagawa Hiroshige also drew the curve of the iris.
Kingfisher, Iris and Pinks, pub. by Nishimura Eijudo，葛饰北斋 Katsushika Hokusai
Horikiri Iris Garden, Utagawa Hiroshige, Utagawa Hiroshige
Irises, Tsukioka Kogyo
Japan's Edo period representative figure painter Ogata Korin, Watanabe Shiko's iris flowers are also amazingly beautiful.
Irises at Yatsuhashi,Ogata Korin
Irises, Watanabe Shiko
It's iris and it's a beautiful life
The Waterlily Pond，Claude Monet
After admiring Monet's beautiful and fascinating paintings of irises, you will understand why he is known as one of the masters of Impressionist painting. Gardening is also an art that uses flowers and plants as paints and soil and sky as canvases. Appreciating the beauty of nature is the best understanding of the world.
The water lily pond with irises，Claude Monet