OTHER WAYS OF WORKING



At lunchtime today, Marielle, Annick and I went to see a film made by Phillipe Piquet. The main reason for making this effort was that P.P. gives conferences on Art intermittently on a Monday evening. «Key Exhibitions from the middle of the 19th century to the end of the 20th» A subject which interested us all. However, his conferences have turned out to be (and there are 7 to go) a list of excuses «I haven’t done, haven’t had time to do, didn’t find on Internet....» and for me anyhow, have become infuriating. We decided to  see his film, but in expectation of what?


Philippe Piquet is the great, great step grandson of Claude Monet. We are reminded of this in nearly every conference....The film is called « Claude Monet in Giverny - the house of Alice»....He presented  the film remarkably well. As an adolescent he had scrummaged in the attic of his grandmother’s house and found Alice’s (Hoschede)  correspondance to Claude Monet along with photos.  A diary of events which happened in their every day lives. Letters and photos were of course a heritage which should be shown.

Alice was his second wife and the whole family - 6 children on her side and 2 from C.M.’s first marriage went to live in Giverny.  A tribe as she says. It is a very  informative film about his great, great gandfather from 1883 to 1926. Some letters, photos which have probably never been seen before and which gave an extremely personal touch to the Monet’s everyday life - until she died many years before he did.

When we go to our conferences, a «presence sheet» needs to be signed. There should be roughly 40 people who attend. In the last conference I counted 12. I could be a coward and not go but am now fascinated in counting the number of times he says «I couldn’t find it..» or a negation which is an excuse. One conference of 2 hours I had 50 little sticks in my book. Last conference there were less but who needs an enumeration of artists who were shown at an exhibition? If I was interested enough, I can find all this myself on Internet. However, in making such a count, I listen to what he says but my notes are somewhat erratic ! I do see new concepts and I do see new pictures...



He knows his subject well. A master on the Impressionists and curates many exhibitions. Some of his written critics on modern art have been an eye opener for me.  Why then can’t he get his act together and put all this passion into art conferences

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