The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Camille Monet, 1873
Monet.
The first artist I fell in love with.
Freshman French class.
My brother John nurtured that love
by meeting me in downtown Chicago
for trips to the Art Institute.
Up close you see only brushstrokes.
Stand back and the picture emerges.
Monet.
Born this day in 1840.
He kept this picture of his wife with him until his death in 1926.
Monet.
A Living Pencil 
I have yet to tire of FAF and even find that I can discover things I do like about those artists I thought I didnt, like Laurie’s link to Van Gogh at MOMA.Here’s a link to my entry about Monet and his wife …. your choice with the red is quite good.http://hiddenart.blogspot.com/2007/09/self-portrait.html
I love Monet, too. He’s just one of the best of the best of the Impressionists. I was just reading an article in Reader’s Digest ab/ Rembrandt and a self-portrait that was stolen from the national museum of Sweden that’s quite interesting as well. Apparently Rembrandt did more self-portraits than most artists, 80 in all! But what I like best about the man is that he made art accessible to the masses by making prints. A man ahead of his time!
@hiddenart – I actually thought about pairing the two pictures. It does seem odd to paint your wife immediately after her death. One of my best friend’s husband is a professional photographer (AP/ Reuters – he’s really good). He took pictures at his father’s funeral, knowing that it might raise some eyebrows. But the camera was his medium and he wanted to capture his experience through it. (He didn’t have a camera going the whole time – I wasn’t there but I’m sure he was selective…)
Susan Vreeland has a collection of short stories about art and artists called “Life Studies” – one of them is a short story about Monet painting his wife right after she died. Good stuff.Carrie
There’s nothing like seeing it live and in person.
Lovely picture, they weren’t married long were they? I would imagine those he did of her at her death were cathartic.
I disdain the squeals my preteens emit upon hearing the latest Jonas Brothers tune…until I see a new Monet (new to me, anyway), and realize the apples lie close to the tree… TY for the food for squeals!
@R1R2ish – I love that you squealed.
your new “header” looks good – loving God and the good life – learning along the way ….
@nnjmom – I just ordered the book on PaperBackSwap. Thanks for the recommendation, once again. I owe you one, Carrie!
@sonskyn – Thank you!