The Magic of Monet's Garden: His Planting Plans and Color Harmonies
Gardening was French impressionist painter Monet's other passion. His garden at Giverney is featured in his paintings (e.g. the waterlilies series) and is a popular tourist destination. An award-winning garden designer/photographer offers a tour of the famous garden with some 200 lush color photographs, a landscape plan, biographical background, and details on Monet's favorite plants. The volume includes a Monet chronology (1840-1926), and information on visiting Giverney and other gardens and noteworthy places in Normandy. (Book News2009-02-00)Because Fell is a gardener, not an art historian, his beautiful photographs are blessed with captions that actually identify the plants pictured, sometimes down to the cultivar name. (Marianna GreeneDayton Daily News2009-08-21)Offers a window into the mind of one of the great impressionist painters of the 19th and 20th centuries and one of the most gifted flower gardeners of the 20th century. (Joel M. LernerThe Washington Post2007-12-08)Here are more than 200 colour photographs and a dozen planting plans, and secrets for creating the luminescent quality of [Monet's] gardens. (The Globe and Mail2007-12-15)You'll be inspired by Monet's color combinations ... for your own masterpiece.... When you're done you can boast to the neighborhood that you keep the Monet in the yard. (Style at Home2007-12-31)Lush with images.... This book will be useful for any gardener who wants to understand how to combine plants and colours to create eye-catching effects.... But artists and those who appreciate beauty, -- even if they never pick up a trowel -- will enjoy some time meandering in Claude Monet's garden, (Carolyn LeitchGlobe and Mail2007-10-26)Glorious ... [Fell's] lifetime in horticulture coupled with a first class understanding of color has rendered a delicious treatise on the mechanics of this famous painter's garden. (Scripps Howard Wire Story 2007-12-00)Accompanied by beautiful illustrations that include colorful planting plans, drawings, and photographs, the text is in essence a lesson on how to design an artistic garden. (National Garden Clubs, Inc.2007-11-00)A delicious treatise on the mechanics of [Monet's] garden... as valuable to the garden maker as it is to today's painter ... Most useful is the chapter on color harmonies or theory or why it works so well [and] the compendium of Monet's favorite plants.... For the gardener or the artist on your gift list, [this book] will soon be bruised and battered. (Maureen GilmerScripps Howard News Service2008-12-08)This recent offering from Fell is one to treasure. ... This book will appeal to photographers and to gardeners who can adapt Monet's concepts to add beauty to their garden. (Canadian Camera2007-12-00)Derek Fell reveals the great French painter's breathtaking color harmonies at Giverny and guides the reader on  how to scale down his ideas for the home garden. (The National Post2007-12-01)Fell, a renowned gardening writer, details many of the painter's gardening techniques, structural accents and favorite plants, with beautiful photographs and a number of helpful diagrams.... Fell's discussions of iridescence, underplantings, color combinations and Monet's use of white flowers to create shimmering effects are sure to inspire readers hoping to incorporate the painter's ideas in their own gardens. (Nancy SchoefflerThe Hartford Courant2007-12-07)This beauty will make your imagination soar. (Helen HalpennyThe Lanark Era2007-12-04)This beauty will make your imagination soar. (Helen HalpennyReview-Mirror (Westport, ON)2007-12-20)[Fell's] photographs are the next best thing to visiting the living canvas that the famous Impressionist created.... 'The Magic of Monet's Garden' will delight artists and gardeners alike, and would be equally at home on the coffee table and in the garden shed. (Jessica DamianoNewsday (NY)2007-10-25)Fell offers a loving portrait of [Giverny], with glossy pictures and reproductions of Monet's paintings. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel2007-09-16)Fell reveals Monet's breathtaking color harmonies and describes how the artist "painted" his living masterpiece.  Over 175 color photographs and illustrations guide the reader on how to scale down Monet's ideas for the home garden, that will inspire and instruct home gardeners to create this own version of Giverny. (Rob MooyKingston This Week2008-01-25)What a great gift this would be for lovers of art, history and garden design. (Marianne BinettiSeattle Post-Intelligencer2007-10-13)I really enjoyed this book.... it gives insight into Monet's thinking and his love of Giverney, the garden he created. (Ian MuntSudbury Star2007-10-23)Offers a window into the mind of one of the great Impressionist painters of the 19th and 20th centuries and one of the most gifted flower gardeners of the 20th century. (St. Petersburg Times2007-12-08)My favourite this year ... With text and his usual exquisite photos, Fell explains the secrets of colour and planting the artist used in creating his famous gardens at Giverny, France.... Not as good as a plane ticket, maybe -- but a lot cheaper. (Mary Fran McQuadeBeach Metro Community News2007-12-18)Offers a window into the mind of one of the great impressionist painters of the 19th and 20th centuries and one of the most gifted flower gardeners of the 20th century. (Joel M. LernerSalisbury Post2007-12-08)Fell's lifetime in horticulture and his first-class understanding of color has rendered a delicious treatise on the mechanics of the famous painter's garden. The book is as valuable to the gardener as it is the painter enthralled with the vivid color of plein air work....  Fell has deftly laid out the mechanics behind [Monet's] marvelous landscape. He begins with helping us understand what Monet liked, so that we can climb into his head to see as this painter did some 100 years ago....   With more than 200 glorious photographs that reflect the always perfect visuals spread over 160 pages, [the book] is certainly a good choice for the gardener or the artist on your giftr list. (Maureen GilmerRecord Searchlight, Redding, CA (wire story)2007-12-15)Gardeners looking to emulate Monet's vivid approach will find planting plans in Fell's book. (Romantic Home2008-04-01)Major themes and small anecdotes will educate the gardener and inspire thoughts about how to incorporate some of Monet's practices. (Mariana GreeneThe Dallas Morning News)The Magic of Monet's Garden is a favorite of mine.... With text and his usual exquisite photos, Fell explains the secrets of colour and planting [that] the artist used to create his famous garden in France. It's nearly as good as a trip there, especially in these budget-conscious times. (Mary Fran McQuadeVaughan Today2008-12-12)A stunningly beautiful book, its photographs are breathtaking...duplicating even parts of Monet's garden will be impossible for most people [yet] gardeners can dream and everyone can appreciate artistic perfection. (Gloria HildebrandtEscarpment News2010-06-00)Derek Fell has a cornucopia of pictorial suggestions to suit every budget. From a simple placement of stones to a grandiose landscape theme, there are ideas in abundance. (Calgary Herald2006-08-18)