Show me the Monet

There is plenty to love in the “Monet and Venice” exhibit at the de Young through July 26. What leaves more to say is that there is always more to see, when viewing his masterpieces live and up close. No catalog, or online reproductions do justice to his vision.

Monet’s haystacks, his cathedrals and his water lilies are justifiably famous. He was known for painting the same subject at different times of day or different seasons, all to capture the fleeting magnificence of sunlight.

The painting that gave the movement its name was Impression Sunrise, a semiabstract foggy blue river scene bathed in orange rising sunlight. A water scene that shocked some and thrilled others with its sketchiness, barely recognizable forms and strong colors.

Monet was always captivated by water. It provided endless variations, he phrased it a “mirror” of light, constantly changing, whether sea, river or his garden ponds.

“I am more and more fascinated by the reflections of colors in water. It is quite beyond me,” he said.

It’s no wonder that a city full of colorful sculptured buildings built literally on water, surrounded at all hours with light, would have left him spellbound.

That’s what this exhibit is about.

Two things to notice right away: There’s always an atmospheric haze, and half the view or more is water, sometimes only a silhouette details the land. The former is a device Monet used to depict the air as subject and how it diffuses light. The latter is his enthrallment with water itself.

Aiming to create what he termed “enveloppe,” a surround of haze and color depicting the atmosphere, his Venice paintings hearken back to Impression Sunrise. It’s as though the air was thick as water, and you see everything through that lens.

In three paintings of the Basilica Santa Maria della Salute across the Grand Canal you find his customary series of the same subject and viewpoint, but different light. Note that more than half the frame is water-filled, and the details are only suggested through that haze, which is sometimes cool (bluish), sometimes warmer (yellow-orange).

Echo that in the series of the Palazzo Ducale. Were it not for the dark quay shape in the foreground anchoring the compositions, the buildings across the Grand Canal would dissolve into the same blurry mass of the water.

Contrast that with the static photographic detail of Canaletto in the show and you will recognize Monet’s consistent stylistic rendering, his personal impression. Since that marks his work through the decades, it’s not simply due to his ripening cataracts.

Still not sure about water? His Palazzo Dario series shows the staccato brush strokes that give the water its shimmer repeated in the palazzos in the background, light moving and flickering from a two-dimensional painting.

In the nocturne Waterloo Bridge: Effect of Sunlight in the Fog all that shows clearly is a striking orange reflection in the water, that blends seamlessly with a deep blue foreground and background.

The exhibit shows both his earlier and later works, as well as those of Venice by Canaletto, Sargent, Turner and other contemporaries.

This is a must-see exhibition. You won’t get this much collected masterwork by the artist in one place so accessible again. Note: There is a special Access Day May 11 for those with disabilities and their assistants.

De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Garden Drive, San Francisco, (415) 750-3600, famsf.org/visit/de-young.

Heads up: Saturday is the last day to catch “Inherited Forms” at Pamela Walsh Gallery in Palo Alto. I regret that I found it too late; hope you catch it in time yourself.

Bart Charlow, author, artist and consultant blends over 45 years of painting and photography with narrative storytelling. Explore the intersection of observation and expression through his insights on the local art scene, find his books at bartcharlow.com and his art at bartsart.weebly.com.