Je passe ma vie à peindre

Five paintings, recently studied or restored, reveal another facet of his art, less spontaneous than it appears. Tracing the first decades of his career up to the turn of the century, his paintings show him wholly devoted to his quest to paint outdoors and to render his "sensation". They skilfully convey the atmosphere of the banks of the Seine or the surging waves of the sea, the spring greenery or the harsh winter of landscapes near and far, which his brush transfigures. But beneath this dazzling ease lies a relentless quest: painting a three-metre canvas in his garden; composing a snow landscape; evoking a family meal at life size, with or without guests; or, quite concretely, deciding whether or not to varnish his painting. These are all questions that Monet asked himself, and they will be addressed in this display, developed with the help of the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France and of Bénédicte Trémolières, a restorer specialising in the artist, as well as with the participation of several restorers. Together, and also thanks to the presentation of several letters, this allows us to encounter the artist, at the heart of his work and of his creative process.