Claude Monet in his garden, a profusion of flowers blooming beautifully courtesy Elizabeth Murray
French Impressionist painters, like Claude Monet, paused in the countryside to capture the light of the sky in Normandy, where the intense colour of red poppies flowering in its fallow fields remind us of war and peace. They recorded the haze leaching off lovely lavender fields in the heat of a summer in Provence, as it released its heady calming fragrance into the cool night air. They floated on boats along the Seine, following the river as it meandered in circuitous routes through the city of Paris. They enjoyed picnics on its banks, while recording all sorts of places from power stations to railway stations for posterity. When they reached the seashore they scrambled over slippery moss covered rocks to capture the magic of the ocean and rugged rock formations. The turbulence of the waves echoed the up and down aspects of their life and its times. They were as unpredictable as the swelling number of tourists clamouring to see them at work, giving them a whole lot of trouble while helping establish their all-new celebrity status.
