Why Monet matters: meanings among the lily pads

Abstract

"Explores the paintings of Monet and the personal, cultural, and historical contexts within which they were created, including rapid changes of government in France, the Dreyfus Affair, and the destruction and devastation of World War I"--Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction : a monument to peace -- A paradox of near and far : a train ran through his garden -- Environmental impulses : performing painting and gardening -- Motifs and meanings : elements and origins -- Decorative theories and practices : in the time of symbolism -- Flowers and flesh : color and the feminine -- Philosophical looking : seeing with the body -- The politics of paradise : utopians and malcontents -- Reputations and legacies : abstraction and the modern -- Conclusion : man of his times.