I first found Claude Monet while sitting among 300 students in a college Humanities 101 class. He spoke to me. He told me about color, brush strokes, and impressions rather than photographic reproduction of live scenes. He became a lifelong friend who helped a boy from West Virginia's coal region learn about art.
Twenty-five years later, I began researching Claude Monet. After reading and re-reading the art books I had collected, I purchased more in-depth biographies. Most notably, Daniel Wildenstein's "Monet: The Triumph of Impressionism," a four-volume set that contains every one of Monet's paintings plus an extensive history of Monet's life. Ross King's "Mad Enchantment" was another revealing account of Monet's final years. I also attended Japanese woodblock print exhibitions in San Francisco and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and every art museum in Paris and many across the US. At last, I was getting a clearer picture of Monet, the times in which he worked, and his fellow painters.
This thirty-year research project led me to commit to writing a book about Monet, his personal life, and his family. After ten years of writing and rewriting the opening scene in my head and the pandemic lockdown hit, I finally sat down to write. I chose to write a novel instead of a biography because fiction makes history easier to understand. This historically accurate novel is the result of my years of discovery. I hope you will feel my effort has been worthwhile and that your time has been well spent reading "Monet & Oscar: Essence of Light." Please leave your comments here or on Amazon. Your comments make the writing process worthwhile. Thanks.
Twenty-five years later, I began researching Claude Monet. After reading and re-reading the art books I had collected, I purchased more in-depth biographies. Most notably, Daniel Wildenstein's "Monet: The Triumph of Impressionism," a four-volume set that contains every one of Monet's paintings plus an extensive history of Monet's life. Ross King's "Mad Enchantment" was another revealing account of Monet's final years. I also attended Japanese woodblock print exhibitions in San Francisco and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and every art museum in Paris and many across the US. At last, I was getting a clearer picture of Monet, the times in which he worked, and his fellow painters.
This thirty-year research project led me to commit to writing a book about Monet, his personal life, and his family. After ten years of writing and rewriting the opening scene in my head and the pandemic lockdown hit, I finally sat down to write. I chose to write a novel instead of a biography because fiction makes history easier to understand. This historically accurate novel is the result of my years of discovery. I hope you will feel my effort has been worthwhile and that your time has been well spent reading "Monet & Oscar: Essence of Light." Please leave your comments here or on Amazon. Your comments make the writing process worthwhile. Thanks.
