No comments about Japanese Woodblock Prints 2009 Calendar.

1 comments about The Magic of Monet's Garden: His Planting Plans and Color Harmonies.

1. This is a must-have book to read to your child. It conveys the wonderment of childhood, nature, colors, and art along with the wonderment of Monet and his love for beauty. The illustrations are outstanding. I love this book.

2 comments about Color Your Own Monet Paintings (Dover Pictorial Archives).

1. I am an avid coloring adult. It is great for your stress release and it takes your mind off everything else for a short time. I was very excited when I saw the Monet coloring book. I thought it would be really cool to do. However after receiving it and starting my first page to color. I have to admit I was disappointed. Most of the prints are hard to make out in places and you cannot color them to match the orginal art work as there is a lot of white. So, all in all it was a let down.



2. There is a large array of these coloring books of famous artists. Monet is perfectly fit for it. I expect I'll get others. It is a strong medition on arts masters.

No comments about The Art of the Bistro 2009 Calendar.

No comments about Claude Monet 2009 Calendar.

No comments about 2009 Tim Walker Pictures Wall Calendar (Grid Calendar).

2 comments about Simplicity 2009 Mini Wall Calendar (Calendar).

1. I gave this as a gift the the recipient loved it! It was a beautiful datebook.



2. An excellent engagement claendar. Excellent images with plenty of space for daily entries. Very calming. Just what's needed in our hectic lives.

5 comments about Monet's Table: The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet.

1. I asked for this book for Christmas after glancing through it at the Bostom Museum of Fine Arts. Monet's one of my favorites, and the biographical stuff (about a third of the book) is fine.

   But the recipes are remarkable! Monet was a fanatic in the kitchen, swiping recipes from everybody he knew -- there are reproductions of some of his notebook pages, and they're interesting even if your French (like mine) is weak.

   I've done six of the recipes, pork and fish and potatoes and what-all -- and every one was remarkable. This was a period in French cooking where haute cuisine was starting to materialize out of the various regional traditions, and Monet was a careful and discriminating observer of the process.

   If you love painting and eating, you have to have this book!




2. As a lover of the Impressionist movement, I felt compelled to make the pilgrimage to the house of Claude Monet located a few miles north of Paris in the small town of Giverny, Normandy. Monet's refuge is a shrine of the art world renowned for its beautiful and expansive garden filled with flowers, trees, a lake and its famous bridge.

   When I entered Monet's home, the dining room made a strong impression upon me: large, very inviting and splashed in yellow as if Monet had tried to capture the strong summer sun to overcome the cloudy winter days of Normandy. The table for twelve was tastefully set with blue and white china with a centerpiece of dazzling fresh flowers, as if beckoning its guests to prepare for a savory adventure to be accompanied by lively discussion. As I passed through the dining room into the kitchen, I noticed that the old, black oven fitted with brass trim and graced with copper pots and pans was still capable of generating warmth, even if the fire went out of it long ago. It was at that moment that I decided to purchase "Monet's Table: The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet", and I have reaped far more from this book than the French francs I had traded in return.

   In an interview published on November 26, 1900, in "Le Temps", Claude Monet declared "I am a Parisian of Paris. I was born there in 1840, ... I was born incapable of being disciplined. No one was ever able to make me stick to the rules, not even in my youngest days." Despite this boastful protestation, I am of the personal opinion after having studied his art, visited his home and read books and journals about the artist, that he was, if not disciplined, then certainly dedicated and devoted to the creation of the sensory arts of painting and fine dining in their truest form. These qualities are beautifully illustrated in this beautiful cookbook featuring 160 recipes of Monet's best-loved dishes such as Cezanne's bouillabaisse, Coquilles Saint-Jacques a la Florentine, Lobster Newburg, duck pate', chestnut soufflé, crepes made with Cognac, orange and almond cake and even banana ice cream. The book is comfortably divided into sections including soups, egg dishes, entrees, poultry, meat, game, seafood, desserts and conserves. I personally appreciate the range of simplicity to complexity offered by these recipes that enable me to select from those that are easy and fast to prepare and those that require more time and ingredients, depending upon the time I wish to allot. What I most enjoy sharing with my family and friends is the old world taste and richness of the dishes offered by this book that you do not readily find in most cookbooks. As an added and unexpected bonus, I am transported to a beautiful part of our world, rich in its history and creative in its many art forms that live on in my memory through this book.

   The Preface was written in the form of a dedication to Claude Monet in May 1989 by Joel Robuchon, the Jamin Restaurant Chef de Cuisine. He researched the notebook of recipes kept and used by the Monet family for their family meals as well as those prepared for such noteworthy guests as Clemenceau, Renoir, Pissaro, Durand-Ruel and others. Mr. Robuchon adapted these turn of the 19th century recipes to accommodate modern day kitchen equipment that was unavailable at that time. His Preface ends with his grateful appreciation to Mr. Monet for all of his discovery, his generosity, his artistically beautiful and excellent tasting recipes which were a testament to authentic cuisine of the period, and lastly, for Mr. Monet's legacy to us of living art of every day life. The photography by Jean-Bernard Naudin is excellent. He was assisted by the stylist Nanou Billault in recreating the meals served at Monet's home; however, the subjects of his photography in this book exceed the replication of beautiful recipes such as foie gras truffe' en croute (foie gras encased in a crust) and oignons blancs farcis de Charlotte Lyses (stuffed white onions incorporating Gruyere cheese, fresh herbs, and roast pork or chicken). There are photographs of hand-written recipes on paper yellowed with age, framed by broken edges and stained by life's usage; "la sorbietiere" or the "ice pail" to make the traditional banana ice cream on Christmas Day; Monet's famed kitchen, dining room and studio; baskets filled with wild mushrooms; a picnic table on the grass under an apple tree; and, of course, photos of many of Monet's paintings, such as Le Petit Dejeuner painted in 1868, Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe painted in 1865, and Les Galettes. For devotees of the artist as well as history buffs, there are also some wonderful original photographs of Monet, including photos of the painter in his car leaving for his weekly trip to the market, in his garden with family members as they greeted the first American painters to his home, and in the company of Georges Clemenceau, former French prime minister, mayor of Mont Martre, author and teacher, in June 1921 on the Japanese bridge surrounded by wisteria.

   The photography of Monet's garden is nothing short of breathtaking. I found myself lulled into daydreaming especially while browsing through the photos of the winter scenes of Monet's garden. One picture displaying the hues of green, blue and icy gray features Monet's lake surrounded by trees, bushes and tall blades of grass laced with frost. By the landing, there is a lonely rowboat on this mirrored lake with two paddles beckoning you as a passerby to come closer and fill the emptiness created by the chill of winter. As you turn the page to another beautiful winter scene, you can see the renown pink and white house with its vine-covered trellis in the background, and the forefront dominated by the landscaping filled with trees and their green leaves, shrubs, arches and even pink roses, all of which seem to be completely taken by surprise with the early frost clinging to the pink flowers and green leaves as though they were dusted with sugar crystals. I treasure this book as much for the memories of my visit to Monet's house and garden as for its insight into the realm of Monet including his time honored recipes.




3. This is one of my favorite books in the whole world, not because of any one thing, but because of how its different parts hinge together to stand you right in the middle of a completely creative spirit. You can get lost in the pages and sense Monet's life. His gardens, the notes on food, the kitchen. It is a large book, perfect for a lap. Sit with it and list-making tools. Think of a kitchen in another time, when food was beautiful and flavors strong and true. I have made the green cake (vert-vert) and it was pretty good, amazingly pretty. The recipes chew at the back of your mind and then you find yourself making something from it on a rainy day when you have also bought flowers at the grocery. If you get this book you will probably buy flowers at the grocery from then on, and that will make you happy.



4. This is the most spectacular cook book I have ever seen, splashed with the colours of Monet's house and gardens, garnished with photos of the foods served therein. I wish I had his kitchen stove - it looks as though it provides 24 square feet of cooking surface. Biographical notes put it all into historical and human perspective; and to top it all off ... the recipes. Ah, the recipes, all placed before us in modern terms that make these wondrous foods perfectly doable. After reading 'Monet's Table' and trying out the mussels in herbs, I bought three more copies to send to my closest foodie friends.



5. "Monet's Table" is a gorgeous exploration of everyday life in the Impressionist household. While Claude Monet revolutionized art, his cuisine at Giverny incorporated the everyday pleasures of Normandy. There are classic dishes like Coquilles St. Jacques and foie gras, but there are also stuffed onions and broth. Claude Monet even kept cooking journals. This is a discovery for those who have only seen his artwork. (I'd also recommend "Frida's Feasts" about the cuisine of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo) Monet put as much work into his cooking as he did his painting. The kitchen was also his canvas. Bon appetit!

No comments about Claude Monet, 1840-1926 (Basic Art).

3 comments about Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlilies: Sunshine and Waterlilies (Smart About Art).

1. This is one in a series of books about artists for young children about the lives and paintings of these famous oldsters. Written as a report by a fictitious student gives a different aspect and will appeal to school children perhaps; and yet, it contains a biography of Claude Monet (the good and the bad) which appeals to adults, but especially his marvelous paintings are worth the money.
   
   He was very handsome when he went to Paris at the age of 18, but the other painters kidded him with the nickname "Dandy" because he wore ruffled cuffs even though he was just the son of a poor grocer. As a young child in the early school years, he would draw stetches of his teachers and sell them to his classmates. The sketch he drew when he was sixteen looks like something you might see in 'The New Yorker' and is now a part of the expressionist grouping at the Art Institute of Chicago. Some years ago, my son Geoff took me there but that part was closed off for renovation. I told him it didn't matter as there was so much else to look at; as it turns out, the expressionalists are my favorites. Oh well, it was grand just being there.
   
   'The Poppy Field' is one of his most famous, but the people in Knoxville would much prefer 'Water Lilies' because of the purple. By his 83rd birthday, he had finished twenty-two giant paintings of waterlilies. He had his own water gardens as an older man with a bridge (a photo of him standing by with his long white beard); there in his garden at Giverny the flowers were so colorful and plentiful, it could be Longwood Gardens in New Jersey. He and Renoir painted the same scene of a group of party-goers along a frog pond and the canoes pulled up for their use. Renoir's is a close-up though he has one of his trees with long hanging branches, while Monet's is more exact and clear.
   
   He was happily married twice but the deaths took their toll; Camille had been his model for ten years before their marriage and he painted many strange pictures after her death with her face in them. When Alice died, he was so distraught he was unable to paint for some years as his eyesight diminished. In 1923, he endured eye operations and had special glasses to use for resuming his career.
   
   Steven ends his report with "On December 5, 1926, he died (shortly after his 87th birthday). He had been happy, sad, poor and rich. In his life, Monet painted more than 2,000 paintings, which now sell for millions of dollars. They are worth it."
   
   Some of the phrasing is for kids to understand, but the book is so full of information not included in adult biographies it is well worth the time and money to purchase this little treasure.



2. "Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlilies" was a terrific book for my 7-year-old daughter. Since it is "written" from the perspective of a fifth grade student doing a report on the famous artist, the language was clear, concise, and interesting to a child my daughter's age. I learned from it, too! My daughter couldn't wait to break out her paints and try her hand at an "impressionist" painting of her own! For anyone who wants their child to learn about art, this book --and the whole series of "Smart About Art" books--is a great place to start. Your child--and you, too!--will definately enjoy this book.



3. Intend to use this book as part of a teacher's lesson plan. Will be very helpful.