Blanche Hoschedé-Monet, The pond at Giverny, musee A.-G. Poulain, Vernon, France
In the vicinity of Giverny, the little town of Vernon has a museum that is well worth a visit, at least for its impressionist rooms that include two beautiful Monets. The museum Alphonse-Georges-Poulain also owns 8 works by Blanche Hoschedé-Monet (1865 – 1947). At the same time step daughter and daughter in law of the master, Blanche was his only pupil. She often painted next to him, until she stopped when Monet lost his wife – her mother – to take care of him. Blanche resumed painting after Monet died. Then only she dared choosing his garden as a motiv. The Pond at Giverny is not dated but we can guess it was painted between 1927 and 1947. The corner Blanche picked up doesn’t appear on Monet’s works. The angle encompasses the dock on the far left, a cherry blossom, two tall trees that could be the ashes at the entrance to the water garden, the still young copper beech and probably the start of the Japanese bridge on the far right. The edges of the pond are still like in Monet’s times, with clumps of irises, peonies and rosebushes on lawns, a contrast with the present day lush flower beds all around the pond.
If you intend to visit Giverny in the next weeks, here is what awaits you at the entrance: you will be asked for your ‘pass sanitaire’ (Covid health pass) or vaccination card (more info on the French government website here), you will need to show your admission ticket (if you don’t have it yet, you can buy it on site) then you will have to open your bag for a visual check, and you will get some gel on your hands. That’s it! 🙂
When inside, you can walk as you like on the grounds, provided that you wear your mask all time. The good side of these measures is that fewer people visit Giverny. Monet’s little paradise almost for yourself? It is worth the effort, ins’t it ?
The 2021 exhibition at Musee des Impressionnismes Giverny displays paintings and photographs of gardens, from Monet to Bonnard. Impressionists and Nabis steal the show with gorgeous works full of colors, like this master piece by Monet featuring the garden of his aunt Lecadre.
In the deep shade of trees, it is hard to grow a wonderful lawn. In Monet’s gardens at Giverny, the spot under the tall copper beech had to be sawn anew every year.
This is why the head gardener came to the idea of planting a little moss garden under the old tree. “It is an attempt,” he says. “Let’s wait and see if it works.”
Monet didn’t have any moss garden, as far as we know, but surely he would love the idea: it looks so japanese. This makes it fit perfectly in this corner of the garden surrounded by bamboos, next to the famous footbridge called the Japanese bridge.
It is now official, Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny will open on Wednesday 19th May, 2021 at 9.30 am. It will be the right time to admire roses and water lilies. I can’t wait!
Are you missing Monet’s gardens at Giverny? So do I! The gates are still locked and will stay so for several more weeks. France is under lock down at least until mid-May. Not to speak about the borders…
I took advantage of the long hours at home last year to sort out pictures taken in the gardens through the seasons. They’ve been turned into a book:
Giverny Photo Book
There is not much to read in this book, the focus is on the pictures. The texts are bilingual in English and French, except for the title 🙂
I’ve found it on amazon.fr. I had to type the title plus the editor, OREP, to get it.
I would be happy to know if Giverny en photos is available where you live. If you can find it on a website, would you please let me know? Merci beaucoup !
