Impressions Of Monet Opens At Gardens By The Bay

The exhibition on the cherished gardens and art of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet sees a floral display meet with a complementary digital experience for the first time in Flower Dome

Impressions of Monet Floral Display

Wander amidst recreations of the famous landscapes of Claude Monet’s home and gardens in France, such as graceful water lilies floating on a pond, or pretty scenes of blue delphiniums and purple foxgloves. Then segue into a world of changing lights and digital projections, classical music and the scents of nature – where Monet’s life and art become larger than life. For the first time in Gardens by the Bay’s history, the horticultural and the digital meld together in a one-of-a-kind showcase – at 2,650 sqm, it is more than three times the size of a regular floral display – that has never been attempted before.

Impressions of Monet (印象莫奈), a tribute to the master of French Impressionism, comprises two distinct but complementary elements – the Impressions of Monet: The Garden (印象莫奈：花园) floral display in Flower Dome, and a multi-sensorial immersive exhibition Impressions of Monet: The Experience (印象莫奈：体验) in the space adjoining Flower Dome.

Jointly presented by Gardens by the Bay and NEON, Impressions of Monet was officially launched by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat today. Impressions of Monet: The Garden will run until September 17, while Impressions of Monet: The Experience will continue for a limited period. Singapore residents enjoy complimentary entry to Impressions of Monet: The Experience from Mondays to Thursdays with a Flower Dome ticket purchase.

Impressions of Monet GBTB

Gardens by the Bay CEO Felix Loh said, “Claude Monet is an artist who holds special significance for a garden like us – as much as he was a master artist, he was also a passionate gardener who translated his love for plants into his famous paintings. As a show garden, Gardens by the Bay is in the unique position where we can bring out the beauty of Monet’s lovingly curated gardens and combine this horticultural experience with a complementary digital one through our collaboration with NEON. Collectively, we hope this will amplify Monet’s life and artworks for new audiences in a refreshing way.”

Executive Chairman & Group CEO of NEON, Ron Tan said, “We are excited to once again collaborate with Gardens by the Bay, to celebrate the art and life of the master of Impressionism, Claude Monet. With the recent accolades of being voted as the eighth best attraction in the world, Asia’s number one attraction and the world’s most photographed garden on Instagram, there is no better place in the world for us to bring to life the enchanting gardens of Claude Monet, located thousands of miles away in Giverny, France, than right here in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Together with our valued partners, we welcome visitors to join us in celebrating the beauty of art and the power it holds to connect people across cultures and continents, inspiring the visitors in Singapore and beyond.”

Impressions of Monet: The Garden

Impressions of Monet: The Garden is a floral display that recreates the landscapes of Monet’s renowned gardens, Clos Normand and the Water Garden, that formed the land of the iconic pink house where he lived in for 43 years. The scenes of Clos Normand and the Water Garden were the subject of many of his paintings.

The floral display features a curated plant palette of over 18,000 plants across 40 species, closely mirroring those that would be seen at Monet’s gardens during peak of summer, such as cleomes, delphiniums, digitalis, geraniums, hollyhocks, and sunflowers.

Impressions of Monet The Garden

Monet’s early paintings featured vibrant colours and clear details, with short, quick brushstrokes capturing light and atmosphere. As he aged, cataracts blurred his vision and dulled his perception of colours, leading him to use broader brushstrokes and more muted tones. In the floral display, this change is subtly reflected in the planting palette in front of his house, where flowers of paler hues are closer to the house, which gradually transition to flowers with darker, more vivid colours the further from the house. This is a botanical analogy for Monet’s deteriorating eyesight and the impact on his artistic vision, as well as a tribute to his enduring dedication to his art despite this.

Water lilies, which inspired more than 250 oil paintings in Monet’s famous Water Lilies series, are a highlight. Eight varieties among the 10 on display were sourced from the longstanding Latour-Marliac nursery in France – the same place the artist first procured his water lilies all the way back in 1894. This is also the first time that water lilies are featured in a Flower Dome floral display. The green Japanese bridge in the Water Garden, another iconic element associated with Monet, is also recreated.

A replica of Monet’s pink house, measuring 4 metres tall and 9 metres across, takes prominent place in the centre of Flower Dome. Visitors can step in to explore the painter’s kitchen, where he spent time with his family, and dining room, where he entertained other creatives such as fellow artists, musicians and writers. There are also recreations of Monet’s salon and reading room. Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny, which still stand today, is the second most visited tourist attraction in the region of Normandy, France.

Impressions of Monet: The Garden is supported by Bloomberg and official airline partner Turkish Airlines. Visitors may also stand a chance to win a pair of air tickets to France, sponsored by Turkish Airlines, when they share their best photos of the floral display on Instagram.

Impressions of Monet

Impressions of Monet: The Experience

Impressions of Monet: The Experience is a multi-sensory experience celebrating the works and life of Claude Monet and his contemporaries through a dynamic display of light, colour, sound and fragrance across picturesque spaces.

For example, in the space called Vivid Dreams, visitors are introduced to Impressionism, where they learn about the movement and its main players such as Camille Pissarro, Edouard Manet, Gustave Caillebotte, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas, as well as their art.

When visitors step into the space called Night at the Lily Pond, they are ensconced by a night landscape, with images of wisterias and water lilies projected on the walls, and glimmers of light create glistening reflections on the waters of the water lily pond. This is an interpretation of a scene that enchanted Monet in his own gardens, and which became a theme prominently portrayed in many of his waterscape paintings.

Impressions of Monet: The Experience culminates in the Immersive Gallery space, where visitors are treated to a stunning display of Impressionist works accompanied by classical scores, and nature-inspired scents reminiscent of the lush gardens and vast landscapes which inspired them to create their timeless masterpieces.

📅 Impressions of Monet: The Garden will run until 17 September 2024 while Impressions of Monet: The Experience will continue for a limited time
⏰ 9am – 9pm
🏷 Tickets are available here and Klook. Singapore residents enjoy complimentary entry to Impressions of Monet: The Experience from Mondays to Thursdays with a Flower Dome ticket purchase.

Visit here for more details.

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