Monet, Van Gogh and Cézanne

Copy of Monet's "The House from the Garden" (1922)
30x30cm, oil on linen canvas panel

A splash of color to help get through the grey period we're experiencing in Belgium these days. I decided to finish this copy I had started back in 2014. It's part of a series of paintings by Monet. He depicts the path through the garden towards his house in Giverny but, during this late period, his approach has become less representational and increasingly abstract.

 

Copy of Van Gogh's "Vue de la mer aux Saintes-Maries de la mer" (1888)

8x10 inches, oil on canvas

I used a reproduction in a book as reference for this copy. Later, I was surprised to read that Van Gogh used a palette knife for this painting. But, in fact, I think he only used it to flatten out the top of the waves to make them shine, and maybe also to scrape two small areas on the middle wave so that the white grain of the canvas shows through producing a glittery effect. These are the details you miss when you haven't seen the original. Analyses have shown the painting is full of sand so it was definitely painted on location during a trip he made to the coast, which was just a half day's journey from Arles.

Copy of Cezanne's "La mer à l'Estaque" (1878-79)
30x30cm, oil on canvas
(private collection, Schaerbeek, Brussels)

And finally, ten years earlier, Cézanne painted this view of the sea. His simplified, nearly geometric elements are nonetheless challenging to reproduce given all the subtle variations in tone and color. The original is 73x92cm so I widened the foreground to make it fit on my square canvas.