Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist)
Claude Monet
circa 1897
I snapped this picture five minutes before closing time last Wednesday. I wanted to take more pictures, but the guards were shooing my daughter and I out of the gallery (sigh). We went to the Art Institute of Chicago on that snowy, cold day to view the the Arts and Crafts exhibit called Apostles of Beauty. It was a great exhibit which gave an overview of the movement from William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed.
I can never visit the Art Institute without seeing a Monet. Just laying eyes on one of his works fills me with inspiration for months. The Mornings on the Seine series are my very favorite. I like these even more than his haystacks or waterlilies. Because there is a certain meditative quality that draws me into these misty paintings.