This long weekend found me headed to points north. There’s a Monet exhibition happening at the Cleveland Musuem of Art and my fella and I were meeting friends to see it. While there, of course we had to explore beyond the Monet. Even if you don’t like or know anything about the art, this is an incredible place to visit just for the variety of it all.

The Monet exhibition is five pieces including including three late period paintings that are borrowed from the Musee Marmottan Monet in Paris. The showstopper though is a six foot tall Monet that was purchased by the museum in the sixties. At fourteen feet wide, this painting is the centerpiece of the show and probably the centerpiece of any room the museum chooses to display it in. 

The walls in that room are a rich eggplant and the light dramatic so it’s the perfect place to showcase the beautiful pastels that Monet mastered so beautifully. 

I took a few art history classes in college but do not pretend to understand art at all. I do know what’s pretty and what I like and Claude Monet, the Frenchman who gave the world Impressionism, created countless paintings that I think are beautiful. His work and that of other Impressionists is so different than anything that came before that they’re easy to spot. It’s also easy to understand why the French art establishment despised these paintings. They were considered unfinished and amateurish. They defied convention. 

He often revisited the same subject matter, painting the same scene several times. Each of these paintings was different, of course, because time of day, changing seasons and consequential changing light made the view look different. I’m clearly no Monet but I love to walk in the same places and photograph the same things to see how changing light each day influences appearance. I relate to the idea that a rich understanding of a place comes with careful study under all kinds of light.

I like the softness of Monet’s work and that moving away and moving closer reveals something new. Stand close to see the paint strokes and the way the colors melt together into something indistinguishable. Move further away to see how those colors and brush strokes work to reveal a scene. 

It’s possible that the real reason I like Monet and the Impressionists so well is that the way space and light can change the artwork is similar to how time and distance can change our perceptions in life. When you’re too close to a situation, it’s easy to focus on the flaws. Step away and the big picture reveals itself to be something greater and often better than you expected. 

Isn’t it funny how a spin around a room full of paintings can change how you view the world? When in doubt, step back to see the big picture. I promise you won’t regret it.

Want to see this exhibition? Admission is free but you only have until August 11. Click here for full details.