John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #108:Lesser-Known Art

"A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinion than anything else in the world."

-Edmond de Goncourt

Weekend Assignment #108: Show off (or link to) a lesser-known work from a favorite artist. Because there is more to Da Vinci than the Mona Lisa, and more to Van Gogh than Starry Night, I'm thinking of painters, but if you'd prefer to essay a lesser known book from a famous author, or song from a favorite musician, that works too.

Extra Credit: When was the last time you were in an art museum?

-John Scalzi (By The Way...)

What a nice Weekend Assignment to do, just back from my week off. A week that I spent, mind you, filling my life with art. I did some photography, so I have new photos for you, and I visited some public art displays here and there around the Bay Area. I am soooo ready to discuss art! I bet you already knew I was ready to discuss not just art or just any old artist, but indeed my very favorite artist, Claude Monet.

When you think of Monet, which of his works come to mind? "Houses Of Parliament," "Water Lilies," or maybe, "Tulip Fields In Holland?" All of those are lovely examples of his talent as an Impressionist painter, but for purposes of this particular entry, I will show an example of Claude Monet's etchings, "Eva Gonzales."

Eva Gonzales was a contemporary of Claude Monet, and the only formal student of Edouard Manet. She was born into a family that truly embraced the arts. Her father, Emmanuel, was a well known author and her mother was a musician. Eva Gonzales showed her work at Salon, but declined to have her paintings displayed at independent exhibitions. She died early in life, when she passed away during childbirth in 1883. She was only 34 years old.

Extra Credit: I haven't been in a museum in several years. Way too long. That is all about to change. There is a wonderful exhibit of Monet's works,"Monet In Normandy," due to begin at the,The Legion Of Honor, in San Francisco,in June and running through the middle of September of this year. Oh...I am soooo there! :)

-OndineMonet
"Eva Gonzales" By Claude Monet