With 32 unpublished works in the southern hemisphere, the exhibition "Monet's Ecology" at MASP reveals the relationship of the artist with nature and the projects.
Submitted at May 21, 2025, 12:00 PM
The painting 'The Canoe on the Epte' (1890) by Claude Monet depicts a serene landscape with a canoe floating on the calm waters of the Epte River. The vibrant colors and soft brush strokes illustrate the delicate interplay of light and shadow, capturing the tranquility of nature. Monet's signature Impressionist style is evident in the way he captures the reflections in the water and the lush greenery surrounding the scene. This work encapsulates the essence of Monet's love for the projects and his ability to transform simple landscapes into breathtaking visual experiences. (Divulgação)
Curated by Adriano Pedrosa and Fernando Oliva, with assistance from Isabela Ferreira Loures, the exhibition brings together 32 paintings that span five decades of the impressionist's career — many of them never exhibited in the Southern Hemisphere. The intention is to dive into Monet's production through five curatorial cores that highlight the complex and, often, ambiguous relationship of the artist with the landscape and the projects.
“It is possible to identify in his work both the enchantment with nature and an attempt to organize it, to contain it. Monet had a keen eye on the changes around him, documenting everything from industrialization to natural phenomena such as floods and thaws,” explains Fernando Oliva.
Quadro 'Ponte de Waterloo', de 1903 (Divulgação/CASACOR)
In the core "The Seine as Ecosystem", the visitor travels, alongside the artist, the 776 km of the French river that influenced much of his production. A curved expographic panel symbolizes the trajectory of the Seine and reinforces the prominence of water in Monet's canvases — a theme that also recurs in "Monet's Boats", where wave-like brushstrokes and intense colors evoke the movement of river currents and visual immersion.
In "Fog and Smoke", the exhibition highlights how the transformations of the Industrial Revolution impacted the horizons of European cities. The emblematic bridges of London, such as Waterloo and Charing Cross, appear shrouded in thick fog and air saturated with factory smoke, in a chromatic composition that reveals the dense atmosphere of the industrial city.
The core "The Painter as Hunter" investigates Monet's practice of walking long distances in search of good "impressions". The works presented include landscapes captured in different regions of France — from Normandy to Brittany — and also in countries like Holland, reflecting the artist's itinerant and attentive gaze.
Concluding the journey, "Giverny: Controlled Nature" transports the public to the intimate universe of the gardens created by Monet on his property, where he lived for over 40 years. Works like "The Japanese Bridge over the Water Lily Pond in Giverny" reveal the artist's desire to shape nature in his own way — a relationship that is both contemplative and interventionist.
Quadro 'A ponte japonesa sobre a lagoa das ninfeias em Giverny', pintado entre 1918 e 1926 (Divulgação/CASACOR)
The exhibition is part of MASP's annual program dedicated to Stories of Ecology, which includes other exhibitions throughout 2025, such as those of Hulda Guzmán, Frans Krajcberg, Clarissa Tossin and Women Affected by Dams. The museum's proposal is to expand the debates about the projects and reflect on the relationship between humans and the natural world from different contexts, times, and artistic languages.
