Monet in Full Light as Never Been Seen Before: Monaco’s Unique Monet Exhibition

The much anticipated Monet exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum is open to the public with an opening ceremony in the presence of the Sovereign. Open from now until September 3rd. 

Monte Carlo and the Riviera for Monet was an epiphany. The light here seduced him to focus his talent in a world he could only have dreamed existed. 

In 1883, halfway through his long life and settling in at Giverny, Claude Monet made his first trip to Monte Carlo and the Riviera, which he discovered with his friend Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

He returned alone in 1884 and again in 1888. In Monte-Carlo, Roquebrune, Bordighera and Antibes, he nourished his quest, his obsession, to capture light. As a northern painter, he discovered a new palette of colours.

Never have so many works by Claude Monet on the Riviera been presented as have been gathered by Monaco at the Grimaldi centre. The year 2023, the year of the 140th anniversary of his first stopover in Monte-Carlo is perfect timing.

Monet’s paintings on the Riviera have never been exhibited together, including during the artist’s lifetime. For the first time, more than 20 canvases out of the 90 that he painted of the Riviera are brought together. It’s an event! This exhibition is thought and designed from the territory and from Monaco. It could not take place elsewhere.

The exhibition brings together a hundred masterpieces gathered from all over the world. In total, the exhibition will include some one hundred paintings, almost half of them thanks to the partnership between the Grimaldi Forum and the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris. The other works will come from different collections including the Prince’s Palace of Monaco and other international institutions, such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Columbus Museum of Art and the Denver Art Museum, to name but a few.

And the way they are presented is key to the Expo’s unique approach to teaching us about Monet. 

There were three periods of this great impressionist painter: his beginnings, the beginning of the last century and then the final works with the Water Lilies.

Key moments in Monet’s life are represented by rooms so you travel through time with him. What a creative approach. 

You’ll discover the places where the artist went to the Riviera in 1883, 1884 then 1888. 

Thus, visitors will be able to discover where Monet set up his easel, what were his routes and there will be a room dedicated to the territories with old photographs and an interactive presentation which will allow you to see what Monet painted precisely from Monaco and what the Principality looked like in 1883.

Marianne Mathieu who has guided the creation of this unique insight into Monet is a life-long expert on the impressionist genius. She provides keys to a better understanding of the painter’s quest through exceptional scenography created within the 3000 m² museum space. 

This exhibition means a lot to her. She was born in Monaco, her mother was born in Monaco, and her great great grandparents are from the region. The Expo has been an opportunity for her to return home and have the pleasure of presenting a major exhibition dedicated to Claude Monet.

The Unique Journey To Experience Monet at the Grimaldi Forum… Room by Creative Room

Here is how your journey will play out, room by intriguing room: 

Room 1. Painting the Moment

Objective: to adopt Monet’s viewpoint

How? Through the paintings: four masterpieces, Monet painted first of all an impression, an atmosphere.

Room 2. From Trouville to Vétheuil, Painting the Light of the North

Room 3. Monet, Hunting for Motifs

Discover, with the help of an interactive tablet and a projection, the locations the artist visited in the region.

Room 4. Monet, Monaco and the Riviera

Once again Monet paints the same motif at different moments. In the foreground, two works depicting Monaco painted from today’s Monte-Carlo Beach Hôtel.

Room 5. The Garden at Giverny: Another Moreno Garden

Room 6. Water Lilies: Series of Water Landscapes

Room 7.A. Giverny: The Water Lily Pond

Room 7. B. Between war and peace: The Grandes Décorations

Objective: to present the Grandes Décorations in the context of their production, the garden in Giverny at the time of the First World War.

Room 8. Epilogue: Monet and Abstraction

It’s an amazing Expo fully worthy of the best of Monaco’s summer expositions… and filled to the brim with Monet paintings so creatively presented. Don’t miss out!