“Monet is only an eye, but by God what an eye!” exclaimed Paul Cézanne, Oscar-Claude Monet’s friend and fellow artist. Although Monet lived long (1840-1926), this talk will focus on the Impressionist’s first thirty years, from his birth to when he and his family escaped to England from the Franco-Prussian War (July 19, 1870 – January 28, 1871). That was when Monet learned to use bright colors in broken brush strokes. His paintings captured everyday life, especially the outdoors with its changing light, and were often influenced by the unusual visual angles of Japanese woodblock prints. The talk will include works from regional museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston; the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, in New York; the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C.; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mike got his BA in classics from the University of California at San Diego and his MA in classics and Ph.D. in art history at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He spent twenty years at the Cloisters Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and has lectured on trips all over the world. He lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.