Museum of Modern Art

11 West 53rd Street

New York, NY 10019

(212) 708-9400

Monet's Water Lilies

September 13, 2009-April 12, 2010

The Museum of Modern Art is pleased to present the exhibition of the full group of Claude Monet's latest paintings in the Water Lilies installation. The artist's body of work features a large triptych (Water Lilies, 1914-1926), a smaller one-piece painting of water lilies (Water Lilies 1914-1926) The Japanese Footbridge (1920-1922), and Agapanthus (1914-1926).

The common subject of these pieces is nature. This final major series in Monet's long career was inspired by the Japanese-esque gardens he designed in his home in Giverny. In this way, Monet was able to capture the scenes before in a true and natural light. He was able to capture the moment in time. The extravagant scenes before him allowed him to perfectly capture the reflection in the water, the changing rays of sunlight during different parts of the day, and the vivid colors of nature. More than just depict the scenes before him, Monet managed to inject a peaceful and tranquil aura into the scenes he painted.

In "Japanese Footbridge," one of the later pieces in the series Monet makes a drastic change in color scheme and style. The painting is easily distinguishable by its rusty, orange tone, a change from the more natural blues and greens usually used by the artist. In this painting, the artist is more free with his brush strokes and displays the bridge in a less straight forward manner than is characteristic of a Claude Monet.

Exhibitions of Monet's work can be seen in various countries throught the world. Recent exhibitions include "Claude Monet: 1840-1926" at The Art Institute of Chicago, "Monet in the 20th Century" at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and "The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings" at The Royal Academy of Arts in London. Monet will be included in the upcoming exhibitions, "A City for Impressionism: Monet, Pissarro and Gauguin at The Fine Arts Museum in Rouen from June 4, 2010 to September 26, 2010, and "Side by Side: Oberlin Masterworks" at the Phillips from September 11, 2010 to January 16, 2011.

Book Review

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s latest novel in the Robert Langdon series, has all but cemented his spot as one of popular culture’s best-selling authors. This fast-paced adventure, like the previous two installments, Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, sees Harvard Symbologist Robert Langdon deciphering ancient texts, and embarking on dangerous chases to save the day.

The novel opens as Mal’akh, a delusional madman, lures Langdon to the United States’ Capitol building to help him crack codes and gain access to a hidden secret. In exchange, Mal’akh agrees to spare the life of his hostage, Peter Solomon, Langdon’s dear friend and mentor. Through a series of twists and turns and a treasure hunt through Washington D.C. Langdon saved the day, as we all knew he would. Predictable? Yes. Boring? No.

How has Brown managed to take what is essentially the same plot and draw us all in once again? This feat was accomplished mostly though the charming development of his characters. In The Lost Symbol, we meet two new characters, Katherine Solomon, who is a leading scientist and Mal’akh, a tattooed, muscled, self-castrated madman.

Even with the predictable plot, I enjoyed reading the novel. Maybe it was the new characters, or maybe this was because I went into reading the novel expecting to reread the The Da Vinci Code, but the thriller pleasantly surprised me. In the end, these attributes mean nothing because the book was utterly pointless. It was in no way innovative or original and added nothing to reinvent the genre. Even further, the book was in not better than its predecessors, it was merely up to par; there was no improvement from one book to the next. Overall, the best seller accomplished what it set out to do—entertain. While it won’t go down in history with the classics, the book sure has changed the way I look, or overlook at the secrets hidden within the back of a dollar bill.