Monet's paintings

I have always been fascinated by paintings of impressionist artist Claude Monet, especially his paintings on Sunrise and the poppy field. One can just stand hours and hours in front of these paintings and discover the remarkable mystery of the impressionist art.

Impressionist artists's works were considered as rubbish when they were on exhibition in Paris in the 1800s due to their lack of realism. In those days, paintings were mostly on religious figures/subjects and they were superbly painted with excellent use of colour. The figures looked so real that as if they were taken using camera. The impressionist works, on the other hand, were just sketches and were not considered as art. However, the spirit of the impressionism was like a revolution that swept the art world. Today, impressionist art works are sought after in auction. The paintings of Monet on water lily could fetch tens of millions of dollars.

This one was auctioned for 80 millions

Recently I have a chance to see Monet's paintings here in Singapore. Thanks to National Gallery for holding an Art Exhibition entitled Century of Light which featured quite a number of works of impressionist artist, Claude Monet. Below are just some of the paintings on display that i captured on my hand phone.

Claude Monet Self-Portrait

The elderly Monet with his pallete

If you have the time, do visit the National Gallery of Singapore for a glimpse of the world of this impressionist artist. The paintings are on loan from France until March. However, this 80 million painting of Monet is on in the exhibition.

Water Lily Pond by Monet

Statues of Da Mo

Recently collected 2 simple, yet artistic wood carvings of Da Mo, one tall and the other short one. The carvings featured only the head of Da Mo on a block of wood. Da Mo, an Indian monk who came to China in the 5th century. According to legend, he trained many disciples in martial art and started the School of Shaolin specializing in various types of kungfu routines.

Carvings of Da Mo

 Da Mo, or Bodhidharma ,was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. In Japan, he is known as Daruma. (source from Wikipedia).