Anyone who has ever stood in a long line at a Monet blockbuster exhibit, only to struggle for a view over the heads and shoulders of other art lovers, will love the exhibition now on in Mayfair. Cork Street art dealer Helly Nahmad has pulled together a group of privately-owned and seldom-seen works by French impressionist Claude Monet to exhibit in his elegant gallery until February 26.
The retrospective takes in the artist's diverse styles between the early 1870s and the early 1900s. There are shimmering scenes of boating on the Seine at Argenteuil, fog shrouded paintings of London and romantic views of Venetian palazzos.
My favorite, a view of London's Waterloo Bridge, barely visible in the fog beside a pool of sunlight on the Thames, is one of only two museum-owned works in the show. It can usually be seen at the Kunsthaus in Zurich. You have to come to this exhibition to see the rest.
The show, at the Helly Nahmad Gallery, 2 Cork Street in Mayfair, is free but if you want to splash out, a catalog has been produced in a limited edition of 500. It is annotated with the poetry and musings of Monet's contemporaries and associates, Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé and Claude Debussy.
Details from Canotiers à Argenteuil and Le Palais Contarini Venise courtesy of Helly Nahmad Gallery | UK Travel Blog | share on facebook | Twit This
This sounds great. Small museums and lesser known galleries are always full of surprises and free from crowds!