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I was born in 1840 in Paris,
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but raised in Le Havre.
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I was born unruly.
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Even as a very small child, I could not accept rules.
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School seemed to me like a prison,
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and I couldn't bear being locked indoors for four hours a day.
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In Le Havre, when I was around 15 years old,
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I began to earn a reputation as a caricaturist.
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I became known throughout the town.
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I charged between 10 and 20 francs for my portraits
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and signed them with my second name, Oscar.
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It was at the picture framer's that I often exhibited my caricatures.
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There, I also met Eugène Boudin.
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At Boudin's suggestion,
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I agreed to go out and paint with him in the open air.
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I became fascinated by his quick sketches,
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born of what I call immediacy.
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For me, it was like the removal of a veil.
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I understood, I grasped, what painting could be.
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My destiny as a painter opened up before me.
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One day, Boudin said to me,
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"You're talented. Your sketches are excellent."
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"You're not going to leave it at that."
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"Learn to draw well."
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I took his advice.
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Paris, 19th of May, 1859.
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My dear Boudin, I have to tell you
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of all the fine paintings I'm seeing in Paris.
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The Troyons are superb.
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The Daubignys are beautiful.
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And there are some nice Corots, too.
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And how's this for a good bit of news? Before I left Le Havre,
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I was given an introduction to meet Troyon. I duly went.
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I showed him two of my still lifes.
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His comment was, "Well, my dear chap,
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your colour's OK, the effect is correct."
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"However, you must get down to some serious study,
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for this is all very fine, but it comes very easily to you;
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that's something you never lose."
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"If you want my advice,
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and want to take up art seriously,
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begin by joining a studio
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which specialises in figure painting;
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an académie."
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Take heed and you'll see I'm not wrong."
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"Draw with all your might."
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"You can never learn too much."
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Honfleur, 15th of July, 1864.
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Every day I discover more and more beautiful things.
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My head is bursting.
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I want to paint it all.
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It really is appallingly difficult to do something
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that is complete in every respect.
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I think most people are content with mere approximations.
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Well, I intend to battle on, scrape off and start again.
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Since one can do something if one can see and understand it.
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And when I look at nature, I feel...
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I feel as if I'll be able to paint it all,
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capture everything,
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and then it vanishes, once you're working.
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All this proves
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that you must think of nothing else.
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It's on the strength
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of observation and reflection that one finds a way.
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We must dig and delve unceasingly.
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I'm working hard.
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I'm quite content,
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although what I'm doing is far from being as I should like.
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I must tell you that I'm sending my flower picture
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to the Rouen exhibition.
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There are some really beautiful flowers out at this time.
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Sadly, I've got so much to do on my outdoor studies
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that I dare not start on any more.
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Though I'd love to paint those gorgeous daisies.
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Paris, 22nd of May, 1866.
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I'm happier than ever.
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I'm working non-stop and my courage is as high it has ever been.
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My Woman in a Green Dress was accepted by the annual Salon
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and that success led to my selling several paintings.
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I've made 800 francs.
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I hope, when I have contracts with more dealers,
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it'll be better still.
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Paris, 20th of May, 1867.
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My dear Bazille, Manet's opening is in two days,
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and he's in a frightful state.
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Courbet opens a week today.
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Can you imagine, he's inviting every artist in Paris to the opening?
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He's sending 3,000 invitations, and on top of that,
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every artist also gets a copy of his catalogue.
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Renoir and I are still working on our views of Paris.
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25th of June, 1867.
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My dear Bazille, what a pitiful situation this is.
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My poor Camille, she is so kind, a really good lass.
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I'm writing to ask you
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to send whatever you can,
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since, although I'm getting along well with my relations,
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they've warned me that, yes, I can stay here as long as I like,
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but if I need money, I have to earn it.
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On the 25th of July,
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Camille's baby, our baby, is due.
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I'm going to Paris where I'll be for 10 or 15 days
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and I'll need money for a lot of things.
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Do try and send me a little more, if only 100 or 150 francs?
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Please bear it in mind.
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Without it, I'll be in a very awkward position.
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12th of August, 1867.
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Once again I've had to reach out to people I barely know
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and receive snubs from them.
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I'm going through the most terrible torments.
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I had to come back here
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not to upset the family,
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and also because I didn't have enough money to stay in Paris
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while Camille was in labour.
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She has given birth
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to a big and beautiful boy, and...
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..I don't know how,
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I feel that I love him.
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And it pains me to think of his mother having nothing to eat.
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I was able to borrow the bare minimum for the birth and my return here,
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but now, both she and I are totally without money.
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29th of June, 1868.
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I must have undoubtedly been born under an unlucky star.
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I've just been turned out, without a shirt on my back,
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from the inn where I was staying.
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I have found somewhere safe in the country
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for Camille and my poor little Jean to stay for a few days.
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As for myself, I leave this evening for Le Havre.
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My family refuse to help me any more.
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I don't know where I'll sleep tomorrow.
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I was so upset yesterday
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that I was stupid enough to hurl myself into the water.
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Fortunately no harm was done.
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00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,120
December, 1868.
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00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:17,600
I'm in Étretat. I'm very happy, very delighted.
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I'm setting to like a fighting cockerel,
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for I'm surrounded here by everything I love.
137
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,120
I go into the country, which is so lovely here
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that I perhaps find it even more lovely in the winter than in the summer.
139
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And naturally, I'm working all the time,
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and I think this year I'm going to do some serious things.
141
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In the evening, I come home to my little cottage
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to find a good fire and a dear little family.
143
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If only you could see how the little lad is now.
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How lovely it is to watch this creature grow.
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I am enjoying the most perfect tranquillity.
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00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,520
Argenteuil, 28th of June, 1875.
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00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:27,040
My dear Manet, it's getting more and more difficult.
148
00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:30,360
Not a penny left since the day before yesterday
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and no more credit at the butcher's or the baker's.
150
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Even though I believe in the future,
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you can see that the present is very hard indeed.
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You couldn't possibly send me a 20 franc note
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by return of post, could you?
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That would help me for a quarter of an hour at least.
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25th of July, 1876.
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00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,760
The creditors are proving impossible to deal with,
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and short of a sudden appearance on the scene of wealthy art patrons,
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we are going to be turned out of this... this dear little house...
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..where I led a simple life
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and was able to work so well.
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I do not know what will become of us.
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I had so much fire in me and so many plans.
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15th of January, 1878.
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In two days, we must leave Argenteuil,
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and to do that, I must pay my debts.
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30th of March, 1878.
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My wife has just had another baby
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and I find myself penniless and unable to pay for the medical care
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that both mother and child must have.
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I have pitched up on the banks of the Seine at Vétheuil,
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in a ravishing place.
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I am once again a man of the country,
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and I shall only go to Paris
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on those occasions when I need to sell my pictures.
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10th of March, 1879.
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I'm absolutely sickened with and demoralised by
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this life I've been leading for so long.
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When you reach my age, 38,
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there is nothing more to look forward to.
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Unhappy we are, unhappy we will continue to be.
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14th of May, 1879.
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My dear Monsieur Hoschedé, I must accept the hard fact
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that I cannot hope to earn enough money from my paintings
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to pay for our life at Vétheuil.
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We can't be very good company for you and your wife Alice.
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Myself more and more embittered, and my wife nearly always sick.
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I believed I could create dreams of work and happiness here.
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I am now utterly without hope...
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..and see everything at its blackest and worst.
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Dear Monsieur de Bellio,
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for a long time I have been hoping for better days ahead, but alas,
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I believe the time has come for me to abandon all hope.
193
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My poor wife is in increasing pain
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and I cannot imagine that she could be any weaker than she is now.
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00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,600
Not only does she not have the strength to stand up or walk one step,
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but she cannot hold down the slightest bit of nourishment,
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although she has an appetite.
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One has to be at her bedside continually
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attending to her smallest wish, in hope of relieving her suffering.
200
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And the saddest thing is that we cannot always satisfy
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these immediate needs for lack of money.
202
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For a month now, I have been unable to paint,
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because I lack the colours.
204
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But that is not important.
205
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Right now, it is the sight of my wife's life in jeopardy
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that terrifies me.
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It is unbearable to see her suffering so much,
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and not be able to provide relief.
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Hence I ask a favour of you, dear Monsieur de Bellio,
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which is to help us out from your own pocket.
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We have no resources whatsoever.
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5th of September, 1879.
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00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,600
My poor wife, after the most ghastly suffering,
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gave up the struggle this morning at half past ten.
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I am in a state of distress, finding myself alone with my poor children.
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I am writing to ask another favour of you.
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Could you retrieve the locket for which I am sending you the ticket?
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It is the only keepsake my wife had managed to hold on to.
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And I would like to be able to place it around her neck
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before she is taken.
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My dear Pissarro, you more than anyone will understand my grief.
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I am overwhelmed.
223
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I have no idea which way to turn.
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Nor how I am going to be able
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to organise my life
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with my two children.
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I am much to be pitied.
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Fécamp, 26th of March, 1881.
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Dear Monsieur Durand-Ruel, I received your letter.
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Thank you for your generosity.
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I am working hard.
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I'm putting a lot of effort into it
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and I hope to bring you some good things.
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Pourville, 15th of February, 1882.
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Dear Alice, I am with some good people
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who are delighted to have a lodger and can't do enough for me.
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00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,760
One could not be any closer to the sea than I am,
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on the shingle itself, and the waves beat at the foot of the house.
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4th of April, 1882.
240
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I am definitely getting harder to please.
241
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Nothing is working.
242
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Apart from that, nature is changing so much at the moment.
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How lovely the countryside is becoming.
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What a joy it would be for me
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to show you the delightful places there are to see here!
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2nd of February, 1883.
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Dear Alice, it makes me miserable to know you are unhappy.
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It is absolutely essential that you see Hoschedé whatever you do.
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The longer it drags on, the harder it will be.
250
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There must be a way of drawing him out
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to have a serious and reasonable discussion.
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As for me, have no doubts.
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I think of you constantly.
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You can be sure of my love.
255
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:56,560
Be brave.
256
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,880
19th of February, 1883.
257
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,360
I feel I am going mad.
258
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:16,080
I feel very strongly that I love you more than I thought possible.
259
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,920
So you can imagine how I felt
260
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:24,440
when I received your four lines this morning.
261
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,760
I read each line 20 times.
262
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,760
I collapsed in tears.
263
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:37,880
Do you mean you want to separate from me right away?
264
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,080
Nothing means anything any more to me.
265
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,280
I couldn't care less if my paintings are good or bad.
266
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,840
It's all the same to me now.
267
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,720
Dear Monsieur Durand-Ruel,
268
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,400
you have to see what little progress we've made
269
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:30,400
since we first took a stand.
270
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:37,480
As for myself, this new and unfamiliar public indifference
271
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:39,920
has affected me deeply.
272
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,360
When we were attacked and even vilified in the newspapers
273
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,840
we could always comfort ourselves with the thought
274
00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:50,120
that it was all a measure of our worth,
275
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,400
since no one would have bothered about us if that weren't the case.
276
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,840
So how should this silence be interpreted?
277
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:02,840
You mustn't imagine that I want to see my name in the newspapers.
278
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:06,840
I really am above all that, and I couldn't care
279
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:11,040
in the least about what the press and so-called art critics think,
280
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:14,159
since they rival each other in their stupidity.
281
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,880
I know my worth,
282
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:22,719
and am harder on myself than anyone else could be.
283
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,600
But things have to be looked at from the commercial angle.
284
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,360
21st of March, 1883.
285
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:42,280
People must first of all learn to look at nature,
286
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:46,880
and then they may see and understand what we are trying to do.
287
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,000
29th of April, 1883.
288
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,560
Alice and I are still in the throes of moving house.
289
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:17,120
In the past week I've experienced every kind of difficulty imaginable.
290
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,640
We are so short of money.
291
00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:23,720
Anyway, this morning, with some of my children,
292
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:25,720
I'm setting off for Giverny.
293
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,280
The garden's been taking up all my time
294
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:34,720
as I want to have some flowers to paint when the weather's bad.
295
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,680
I've also had a shed made on the bank of the Seine
296
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,360
to shelter my boats and store my easels and canvases.
297
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,840
I was very concerned to organise my boats,
298
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,520
as the Seine is not very close to the house.
299
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:53,840
They had to be made secure.
300
00:35:57,720 --> 00:35:59,920
Do send more money.
301
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,280
Don't forget me, because you surely know
302
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,320
that tranquillity is essential in the pursuit of good work.
303
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:18,400
12th of January, 1884.
304
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,920
I've decided to leave for Italy straight away.
305
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,280
I want to spend a month in Bordighera.
306
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:30,280
But I ask you to tell no one of this voyage,
307
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,160
because I insist on doing it alone.
308
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:39,720
I have always worked best in solitude and according to my own impressions.
309
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:47,880
Alice, I'm hard at work
310
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,320
with four paintings under way.
311
00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:55,080
It's now a matter of finishing them and doing four more, and so on.
312
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,560
Mine is a dog's life and I never stop walking.
313
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,680
I walk here, there and everywhere.
314
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:10,680
As a break between studies, I go on explorations down every path I find,
315
00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:13,600
always on the look-out for something new,
316
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:16,160
so by dusk, I've had it.
317
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:25,480
I dine well.
318
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:29,360
I write to you as usual, I climb into bed
319
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:34,280
and, crossing my hands, I ruminate on Giverny.
320
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,800
My eyes dwell on the painting on the wall,
321
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:48,240
then after a little reading I'm off, sound asleep for the night.
322
00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,520
One can wander indefinitely under the orange trees,
323
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,160
the lemon trees and palms,
324
00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:05,400
and also beneath the admirable olives.
325
00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:11,480
I should like to paint orange and lemon trees
326
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,240
standing against the blue sky,
327
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:19,400
but... as to the blue of the sky and sea,
328
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:21,400
it is beyond me.
329
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:30,080
I wish I could send you
330
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:32,160
a little of the sunshine.
331
00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:35,360
I am slaving away on six paintings a day.
332
00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:37,640
I'm giving myself a hard time over it
333
00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:41,800
as I haven't yet managed to capture the colour of this landscape.
334
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:48,760
There are moments when I'm appalled at the colours I'm having to use.
335
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,040
I'm afraid what I'm doing is just dreadful.
336
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:58,200
The light is simply terrifying.
337
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:07,640
I am exhausted and you know how hard I work once I get going.
338
00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,440
A task like this is possible for a month,
339
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:13,040
but for more than two...
340
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:16,920
..it's murderous.
341
00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:35,760
Giverny, 27th of April, 1884.
342
00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:40,560
Dear Monsieur Durand-Ruel,
343
00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,680
I will come to Paris as you wish tomorrow morning
344
00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:45,880
but with very few paintings...
345
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,200
..and only because I don't want to offend you,
346
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,000
since every single one of my paintings is in need of some sort of revision...
347
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:59,320
..and the finishing touches must be done with care.
348
00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:03,000
I hope you'll understand that, for if I were to do otherwise
349
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:05,920
I'd turn into a mere painting machine
350
00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:09,160
and you would be landed with a pile of incomplete work
351
00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:12,640
which would put off the most enthusiastic of art collectors.
352
00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:21,640
20th of October, 1885.
353
00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:26,360
Dear Alice, Étretat is becoming more and more amazing.
354
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,240
It's at its best now.
355
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:38,160
The beach with all these fine boats,
356
00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:39,600
it's superb,
357
00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:44,760
and I rage at my inability to express it all better.
358
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:49,480
You would need to use both hands and cover hundreds of canvases.
359
00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:56,680
27th of October, 1885.
360
00:40:57,640 --> 00:40:59,920
My dear Pissarro,
361
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:04,480
I had no idea I'd stay here in Étretat for such a length of time,
362
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,200
but I've been so poorly favoured with the weather
363
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:10,600
and it's a devil to finish anything.
364
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,880
Would you kindly apologise for my absence to all our friends
365
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,160
and send my best wishes?
366
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:24,600
What are you up to, and what about Renoir, Cézanne, Sisley?
367
00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:37,240
9th of November, 1885.
368
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:42,800
Alice, you say that making savings is all you think about,
369
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,360
but you can't seem to manage to.
370
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,360
You have to manage though.
371
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,720
You mustn't count on having anything other than what we've got already,
372
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:53,800
nothing more for the time being.
373
00:41:56,320 --> 00:42:01,920
Now take it from me that if my two and your six children
374
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:05,360
are brought up simply with not too many frills,
375
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:09,120
they'll be the better for it, and more appreciative,
376
00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,160
and that goes for you, too.
377
00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:16,240
And it is quite possible to be happy in such circumstances.
378
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,400
So, why so much sadness?
379
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:24,520
Now take courage and cheer up or I'll get upset.
380
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:30,040
Many kisses to the children and all my love.
381
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:49,600
27th of November, 1885.
382
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:51,840
An accident befell me.
383
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:59,720
I was hard at work beneath the cliff, well sheltered from the wind.
384
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:04,920
I took no notice of the waves that came and fell a few feet away from me.
385
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:14,000
Absorbed as I was, I didn't see coming a huge wave.
386
00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:19,240
It threw me against the cliff and I was tossed about in its wake
387
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,240
along with all my materials!
388
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:27,280
My immediate thought was that I was done for,
389
00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:31,000
as the water dragged me down.
390
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:38,440
But in the end I managed to clamber out on my hands and knees.
391
00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:41,080
What a state I was in!
392
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:44,480
My boots and my coat were soaked through.
393
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:52,280
The palette which I had kept a grip on had been knocked over my face
394
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:56,680
and my beard was covered in blue, yellow, et cetera.
395
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:02,520
The worst of it was that I lost my painting...
396
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:08,040
..which was smashed to bits, along with my easel, bag,
397
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:10,560
et cetera.
398
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:17,760
Anyway, I was lucky to escape.
399
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:43,280
Giverny, 22nd of January, 1886
400
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:49,480
Dear Monsieur Durand-Ruel, I have looked at all my paintings
401
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:51,480
and it's no use.
402
00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:53,200
There aren't any, as far as I can see,
403
00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:56,200
which could be said to be finished and good as they are.
404
00:44:57,600 --> 00:44:59,560
No doubt there are some interesting ones,
405
00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,880
but they're too unfinished for the average collector.
406
00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:08,520
But do you really need quite so many paintings for America?
407
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:11,560
Surely you already have a fair number?
408
00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:16,800
You do, it's true, keep them cleverly hidden,
409
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:20,840
since they're never on display, which in my opinion is a mistake.
410
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:23,880
What is the point of us painting pictures
411
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,120
if the public never gets to see them?
412
00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:29,160
It's not that I don't want to give you any,
413
00:45:29,240 --> 00:45:31,680
that there would be some I could give you,
414
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:36,160
and I wouldn't be angry if you actually displayed them.
415
00:45:36,240 --> 00:45:41,360
You think only of America, while here we are forgotten,
416
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:44,480
since every new painting you get you hide away.
417
00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:47,720
Look at my paintings of Italy
418
00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:50,160
which have a special place among all I've done.
419
00:45:50,240 --> 00:45:53,800
Who has seen them, and what has become of them?
420
00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:56,680
If you take them away to America,
421
00:45:56,760 --> 00:46:00,400
it will be I, over here, who will lose out.
422
00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:04,800
Anyway, you doubtless have your reasons.
423
00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:10,800
But I deplore the disappearance of all my paintings like this.
424
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:15,240
It has now been a month and a half since you left for America
425
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:20,000
and I've had no word from you, or any money from your son.
426
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:59,400
Dear Madame Morisot, thank you for your letter.
427
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:01,720
I have had an exhibition in Paris.
428
00:47:04,200 --> 00:47:06,400
I'm not sure if I should call it a success,
429
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:09,440
but it has all the appearances of one,
430
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:11,800
if sales are anything to go by.
431
00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:18,040
Everything on display was sold for a good price to decent people.
432
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:24,640
It has been a long time
433
00:47:24,720 --> 00:47:28,400
since I believed that you could educate public taste,
434
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:32,840
and it would be asking too much to want to sell only to connoisseurs.
435
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:35,240
That way starvation lies.
436
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:41,760
Giverny, 13th of May, 1887.
437
00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:45,200
Dear Monsieur Durand-Ruel,
438
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:48,040
there's a growing movement in our favour.
439
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:53,200
There's no doubt we are getting a better reception
440
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:55,720
from the people who buy pictures.
441
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:59,560
In other words, business is going well.
442
00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:02,400
I've sold almost all of my paintings.
443
00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:22,400
Cap d'Antibes, 1st of February, 1888.
444
00:48:23,720 --> 00:48:28,800
Dear Alice, I'm weary, having worked without a break all day.
445
00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:33,920
How beautiful it is here, to be sure, but how difficult to paint!
446
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:47,360
I can see what I want to do quite clearly but I'm not there yet.
447
00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:53,040
It's so clear and pure in its pinks and blues
448
00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:57,160
that the slightest misjudged stroke looks like a smear of dirt.
449
00:49:05,160 --> 00:49:08,720
Anyway, I'm hard at it and when I'm working away like this,
450
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:10,520
I'm bound to come up with something.
451
00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:15,040
I've 14 canvases under way.
452
00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:18,720
So you see how carried away I've become.
453
00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:27,320
The weather's absolutely superb again
454
00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:31,680
but, alas, my motifs have changed utterly
455
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:36,000
and I'm having a lot of trouble resuming work on them.
456
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:47,000
In some, the lighting's changed,
457
00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:49,280
in others there's so much snow on the mountains
458
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:55,200
that it's something else entirely, so I'm feverish and bad-tempered.
459
00:49:55,280 --> 00:49:57,240
I feel quite ill.
460
00:50:02,040 --> 00:50:03,680
19th of April, 1888.
461
00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:06,120
I'm continuing the good work,
462
00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:12,040
but I felt so uncomfortable this morning that I had to lay down my brushes.
463
00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:18,600
I had a headache, and was so dazed I couldn't see straight.
464
00:50:38,440 --> 00:50:40,600
7th of October, 1890.
465
00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:47,280
I'm hard at it, working stubbornly on a series of different grain stacks.
466
00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:50,600
But at this time of the year, the sun sets so fast
467
00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:53,640
that it's impossible to keep up with it.
468
00:51:11,040 --> 00:51:14,240
The further I get, the more I see
469
00:51:14,320 --> 00:51:15,680
that a lot of work has to be done
470
00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:18,360
in order to render what I'm looking for.
471
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:24,400
"Instantaneity."
472
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:28,040
The same light spread over everything.
473
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:13,800
Rouen, 12th of February, 1892.
474
00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:18,400
It really doesn't suit me living in a town,
475
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:20,520
and I'm very fed up.
476
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:26,680
But today I feel a little more cheerful.
477
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:31,320
I've been able to move into an empty apartment opposite the cathedral,
478
00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:34,200
but it's a tough job I'm setting out to do.
479
00:52:59,880 --> 00:53:05,480
I'm hard at work, I'm taking great pains and think only of my cathedrals.
480
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:26,040
I'm shattered.
481
00:53:26,120 --> 00:53:29,560
I've never felt so physically and mentally exhausted.
482
00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:33,520
I'm quite stupid with it and long only for bed,
483
00:53:33,600 --> 00:53:38,080
but I am happy, very happy, and would be happier still
484
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:42,320
if this wonderful weather holds out for a few more days.
485
00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:57,120
I'm at work by 7am.
486
00:53:57,200 --> 00:54:00,440
I continue until 6:30 in the evening,
487
00:54:00,520 --> 00:54:03,160
standing up all the time,
488
00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:05,800
nine canvases.
489
00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:11,120
It's murderous, and to think I've dropped everything.
490
00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:14,200
You, my garden...
491
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:16,880
All for this.
492
00:54:26,040 --> 00:54:28,280
Every day I add something
493
00:54:28,360 --> 00:54:31,200
and stumble unawares on some new aspect
494
00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:34,440
that I hadn't been able to see previously.
495
00:54:34,520 --> 00:54:38,200
How hard it is, yet it is coming on.
496
00:54:39,360 --> 00:54:44,040
I'm broken. I cannot work any more.
497
00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:48,920
I had a night filled with bad dreams.
498
00:54:50,480 --> 00:54:53,840
The cathedral was collapsing on me.
499
00:54:54,760 --> 00:55:00,120
It seemed to be blue or pink or yellow.
500
00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:23,920
Dear God, this cursed cathedral is hard to do!
501
00:55:26,800 --> 00:55:29,560
Since I've been here, a week tomorrow,
502
00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:31,120
I've worked every day
503
00:55:31,200 --> 00:55:32,560
on the same two paintings
504
00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:35,560
and I cannot get what I want.
505
00:55:36,440 --> 00:55:40,440
It will come in the end, with a hard struggle.
506
00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:43,160
I'm very glad I decided to come back.
507
00:55:56,040 --> 00:55:58,560
Anyone who claims he's finished a painting
508
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:00,720
is terribly arrogant.
509
00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:06,520
To finish something means it's complete, perfect.
510
00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:11,880
And I'm forcing myself to work, but I can't make any progress;
511
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:14,440
looking for something, groping my way forward,
512
00:56:14,520 --> 00:56:17,480
but coming up with nothing very special,
513
00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:22,560
except to reach the point where I'm exhausted by it all.
514
00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:35,800
My darling. Fourteen paintings on the go today.
515
00:56:35,880 --> 00:56:38,280
It's unprecedented.
516
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:40,800
If I lived in Rouen,
517
00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:43,920
it's now that I'd be starting to understand my subject.
518
00:56:45,080 --> 00:56:47,880
I won't be here much longer, first because I am too tired
519
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:52,760
and also, because the light is changing dramatically.
520
00:56:53,000 --> 00:56:56,560
Every day it gets whiter and higher up.
521
00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:19,320
Giverny, 17th of July, 1893.
522
00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:24,800
Monsieur le Préfect, may I humbly submit a few observations
523
00:57:24,880 --> 00:57:28,760
relative to the opposition drawn up by the municipal council
524
00:57:28,840 --> 00:57:33,120
and a few inhabitants of Giverny concerning my request
525
00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:37,280
to obtain authorisation for a water channel on the River Epte,
526
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:40,680
the purpose of which is to supply a pond
527
00:57:40,760 --> 00:57:44,120
where I would like to grow aquatic plants?
528
00:57:47,440 --> 00:57:53,160
I feel I must point out to you that the above-mentioned opponents
529
00:57:53,240 --> 00:57:56,400
are using public health as a pretext,
530
00:57:56,480 --> 00:58:01,480
their sole intention being to interfere with my plans out of pure ill-will,
531
00:58:01,560 --> 00:58:03,440
a common enough attitude in the country
532
00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:08,000
where a private individual, a Parisian, is concerned.
533
00:58:10,880 --> 00:58:13,680
Moreover, the number of people opposing me,
534
00:58:13,760 --> 00:58:17,800
which is very small in relation to the town's population,
535
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:20,640
consists of people I do not employ,
536
00:58:20,720 --> 00:58:23,440
or have ceased to employ, at my home.
537
00:58:31,720 --> 00:58:33,640
I would also like you to know
538
00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:36,760
that the above-mentioned cultivation of aquatic plants
539
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:40,760
is not as significant as the term suggests
540
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:43,160
and that it is merely intended for leisure
541
00:58:43,240 --> 00:58:48,440
and to delight the eye and also to provide motifs to paint.
542
00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:52,640
Finally, in this pond I will grow plants
543
00:58:52,720 --> 00:58:57,320
such as water-lilies, reeds, different varieties of irises
544
00:58:57,400 --> 00:59:01,160
which for the most part grow wild along the river,
545
00:59:01,240 --> 00:59:05,080
and there is thus no question of this poisoning the water.
546
00:59:06,040 --> 00:59:10,560
I am, sir, your most respectful servant, Claude Monet, painter.
547
01:00:34,320 --> 01:00:37,480
Giverny, February, 1900.
548
01:00:38,080 --> 01:00:41,080
My dear gardener, sowing.
549
01:00:41,160 --> 01:00:45,240
Around 300 poppies, 60 sweet pea,
550
01:00:45,320 --> 01:00:47,560
around 60 pots white agrimony,
551
01:00:47,640 --> 01:00:50,200
30 yellow agrimony.
552
01:00:53,000 --> 01:00:55,920
Don't forget the lily bulbs.
553
01:01:00,560 --> 01:01:02,360
Should the Japanese peonies arrive,
554
01:01:02,440 --> 01:01:04,920
plant them immediately if the weather permits,
555
01:01:05,040 --> 01:01:08,680
taking care initially to protect the buds from the cold,
556
01:01:08,760 --> 01:01:11,640
as much as from the heat of the sun.
557
01:01:11,720 --> 01:01:16,240
Get down to pruning, rose trees not too long,
558
01:01:16,320 --> 01:01:18,920
except for the thorny varieties.
559
01:01:20,600 --> 01:01:25,040
Keep a close eye on the gloxinia, orchids, et cetera, in the greenhouse.
560
01:01:27,680 --> 01:01:31,200
Don't delay work on tarring the planks,
561
01:01:31,280 --> 01:01:35,800
and plant the Helianthus laetiflorus in good clumps right away.
562
01:02:34,760 --> 01:02:38,160
London, 26th of February, 1900.
563
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:47,280
In the early hours of this morning, there was an extraordinary fog.
564
01:02:48,360 --> 01:02:52,400
I did an impression of it that I don't think is bad,
565
01:02:52,480 --> 01:02:56,400
otherwise it's still fine, but very variable.
566
01:03:04,640 --> 01:03:06,600
So I had to start lots of canvases
567
01:03:06,680 --> 01:03:10,440
of Waterloo Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
568
01:03:10,520 --> 01:03:14,040
Unfortunately the fog doesn't seem to want to lift
569
01:03:14,120 --> 01:03:16,440
and I fear the morning will be wasted.
570
01:03:35,280 --> 01:03:38,200
It's been very fine today with the sunshine,
571
01:03:38,280 --> 01:03:41,080
which is a rarity and, as I had predicted,
572
01:03:41,160 --> 01:03:46,560
the sun already sets a long way from the place I'd wanted to paint it,
573
01:03:46,640 --> 01:03:51,200
in an enormous fireball behind the Houses of Parliament.
574
01:04:06,320 --> 01:04:10,400
Although by nine, I'd already done some work on four paintings,
575
01:04:10,480 --> 01:04:13,000
I was convinced, since I'd got up at six,
576
01:04:13,080 --> 01:04:15,720
that I was going to have a very bad day.
577
01:04:16,840 --> 01:04:18,600
As always on a Sunday,
578
01:04:18,680 --> 01:04:21,440
there wasn't a wisp of fog.
579
01:04:21,520 --> 01:04:23,920
It was appallingly clear, in fact.
580
01:04:25,040 --> 01:04:27,680
And then the sun rose
581
01:04:27,760 --> 01:04:31,400
and was so dazzling, I found it impossible to see.
582
01:04:34,480 --> 01:04:37,320
The Thames was all gold.
583
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:42,720
God, it was beautiful, so fine that I began work in a frenzy,
584
01:04:42,800 --> 01:04:46,320
following the sun and its reflections on the water.
585
01:04:49,840 --> 01:04:51,440
Meanwhile, kitchen fires
586
01:04:51,520 --> 01:04:53,520
began to be lit.
587
01:04:53,600 --> 01:04:57,800
Thanks to the smoke, a mist descended followed by clouds.
588
01:05:00,600 --> 01:05:04,800
I can't begin to describe a day as wonderful as this.
589
01:05:06,120 --> 01:05:09,080
One marvel after another,
590
01:05:09,160 --> 01:05:12,040
each lasting less than five minutes.
591
01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:14,520
It was enough to drive one mad.
592
01:05:31,080 --> 01:05:33,760
Giverny, 2nd of March, 1904.
593
01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:39,560
Paul, thank you for your letter and the cheque for 10,000 francs.
594
01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:46,880
All along I have continually rejected offers, many on very good terms,
595
01:05:47,000 --> 01:05:49,520
to the point where I wrote to you a short while ago
596
01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:54,279
to see if I should continue to reject such offers.
597
01:05:54,360 --> 01:05:56,560
You replied that I needn't worry.
598
01:06:06,200 --> 01:06:09,520
I'm entirely absorbed in my work.
599
01:06:09,600 --> 01:06:14,520
These landscapes of water and reflections have become an obsession.
600
01:07:14,560 --> 01:07:17,200
19th of October, 1908.
601
01:07:19,840 --> 01:07:24,200
I am overcome with admiration for Venice.
602
01:07:31,279 --> 01:07:34,279
Unfortunately I can't stay here long
603
01:07:34,360 --> 01:07:37,880
so there's no hope of doing any serious work.
604
01:07:58,880 --> 01:08:01,560
My enthusiasm for Venice
605
01:08:01,640 --> 01:08:03,840
increases by the day,
606
01:08:03,920 --> 01:08:09,040
and I'm very sad that I'll soon have to leave this unique light.
607
01:09:02,080 --> 01:09:04,840
It's so very beautiful.
608
01:09:05,920 --> 01:09:08,359
I've spent some delightful hours here,
609
01:09:08,440 --> 01:09:11,559
almost forgetting that I'm now an old man.
610
01:09:49,359 --> 01:09:52,359
Giverny, 18th of May, 1911.
611
01:09:53,319 --> 01:09:58,600
My dear Paul, I have some very sad news for you.
612
01:10:01,280 --> 01:10:04,480
My beloved wife is about to die.
613
01:10:04,559 --> 01:10:07,559
It's only a matter of hours now.
614
01:10:09,880 --> 01:10:12,440
I can't tell you what I've been going through,
615
01:10:12,520 --> 01:10:15,240
particularly this last fortnight.
616
01:10:16,680 --> 01:10:19,520
My strength and courage are giving out.
617
01:10:30,720 --> 01:10:33,000
7th of September, 1911.
618
01:10:34,400 --> 01:10:36,600
I so need cheering up.
619
01:10:37,720 --> 01:10:41,280
I've had a few very sad months consoling myself
620
01:10:41,360 --> 01:10:43,920
with my dear wife's letters,
621
01:10:44,800 --> 01:10:47,160
all of which I reread
622
01:10:48,040 --> 01:10:50,880
going back over most of our life together.
623
01:10:53,120 --> 01:10:59,040
Otherwise, I haven't been able to find an interest in anything.
624
01:11:03,800 --> 01:11:06,840
Giverny, 7th of June, 1912.
625
01:11:08,840 --> 01:11:10,800
I'm not a great painter.
626
01:11:12,120 --> 01:11:14,360
I only know that I do what I can
627
01:11:14,440 --> 01:11:17,800
to convey what I experience before nature.
628
01:11:19,440 --> 01:11:26,080
And that most often, in order to succeed in conveying what I feel,
629
01:11:26,160 --> 01:11:30,080
I totally forget the most elementary rules of painting,
630
01:11:30,160 --> 01:11:31,920
if they exist, that is.
631
01:11:33,880 --> 01:11:38,160
In short, I let a good many mistakes show through
632
01:11:38,240 --> 01:11:41,280
when fixing my sensations.
633
01:11:41,360 --> 01:11:43,760
It will always be the same
634
01:11:43,840 --> 01:11:46,200
and this is what makes me despair.
635
01:11:58,440 --> 01:12:02,440
I can only see with one eye. I've got a cataract.
636
01:12:03,320 --> 01:12:06,280
I'm following a course of treatment in order to delay,
637
01:12:06,360 --> 01:12:09,160
and if possible avoid, an operation.
638
01:12:13,520 --> 01:12:18,200
More than ever, and despite my poor sight,
639
01:12:18,280 --> 01:12:22,880
I need to paint and paint unceasingly.
640
01:12:28,920 --> 01:12:32,080
Giverny, 18th of July, 1913.
641
01:12:33,480 --> 01:12:35,120
I can't see very well, it's true,
642
01:12:35,200 --> 01:12:38,680
but at least it doesn't seem to be getting any worse.
643
01:12:40,520 --> 01:12:43,920
I am old and live a retired life.
644
01:12:45,120 --> 01:12:49,320
I loathe self-advertisement, interviews and the like.
645
01:12:53,200 --> 01:12:55,840
People can talk about and discuss my work,
646
01:12:55,920 --> 01:13:00,920
but my life is nobody's business but mine.
647
01:13:05,240 --> 01:13:07,880
10th of February, 1914.
648
01:13:10,480 --> 01:13:14,240
My poor son Jean died from illness last night.
649
01:13:21,640 --> 01:13:24,600
29th of June, 1914.
650
01:13:25,440 --> 01:13:29,520
I've started work again and you know I don't do things by halves,
651
01:13:29,600 --> 01:13:32,680
getting up at four in the morning, I slave away all day
652
01:13:32,760 --> 01:13:36,160
until, by the evening, I'm exhausted.
653
01:13:43,080 --> 01:13:45,400
1st of September, 1914.
654
01:13:46,600 --> 01:13:51,240
Most of my family has left me with no knowledge of their whereabouts.
655
01:13:51,320 --> 01:13:55,680
Only my son Michel, who has been temporarily discharged, is with me,
656
01:13:55,760 --> 01:13:57,520
along with Blanche.
657
01:14:00,680 --> 01:14:04,080
A mad panic has swept our area.
658
01:14:04,160 --> 01:14:08,320
As for myself, I'm staying here, regardless.
659
01:14:10,760 --> 01:14:14,840
And if those savages insist on killing me,
660
01:14:14,920 --> 01:14:18,040
they'll have to do it in the midst of my paintings,
661
01:14:18,120 --> 01:14:20,280
in front of my life's work.
662
01:14:32,240 --> 01:14:36,760
Giverny, 15th of January, 1915.
663
01:14:38,559 --> 01:14:41,320
I resume work, which is the only way
664
01:14:41,400 --> 01:14:44,680
to avoid thinking of these troubled times.
665
01:14:44,760 --> 01:14:46,840
All the same I sometimes feel ashamed
666
01:14:46,920 --> 01:14:49,400
that I am devoting myself to artistic pursuits
667
01:14:49,480 --> 01:14:54,000
while so many of our people are suffering, and dying for us.
668
01:14:56,720 --> 01:14:58,400
It's true that fretting
669
01:14:58,480 --> 01:14:59,680
never did any good,
670
01:14:59,760 --> 01:15:03,800
so I am pursuing my idea
671
01:15:03,880 --> 01:15:06,160
of the Grande Décoration.
672
01:15:07,840 --> 01:15:11,080
It's a very big undertaking, particularly for someone my age
673
01:15:11,160 --> 01:15:16,200
but it's the project I have had in mind for some time now.
674
01:15:16,280 --> 01:15:18,080
Water,
675
01:15:18,160 --> 01:15:19,840
water-lilies,
676
01:15:19,920 --> 01:15:24,200
plants spread over a huge surface.
677
01:15:32,920 --> 01:15:36,360
9th of October, 1917.
678
01:15:38,400 --> 01:15:44,680
Having come to Paris for Degas's funeral, I'm exhausted.
679
01:15:46,559 --> 01:15:48,720
Ah, Degas...
680
01:15:50,280 --> 01:15:54,880
My youthful friendship with him and our common struggle.
681
01:16:36,120 --> 01:16:40,880
I'm working more and more, but how hard it all is!
682
01:16:41,400 --> 01:16:46,200
I'm enslaved to my work, always wanting the impossible.
683
01:16:49,520 --> 01:16:52,760
I haven't many years left ahead of me, but...
684
01:16:54,080 --> 01:16:58,280
..I must devote all my time to painting,
685
01:16:58,360 --> 01:17:02,880
in the hope of achieving something worthwhile in the end.
686
01:17:05,920 --> 01:17:12,240
Giverny, 24th of November, 1918.
687
01:17:12,320 --> 01:17:15,840
I had a fine start to my 79th year,
688
01:17:15,920 --> 01:17:19,360
with the glorious victory coming first,
689
01:17:19,440 --> 01:17:24,920
and a visit from the great Georges Clemenceau
690
01:17:25,040 --> 01:17:29,600
who came to take me to lunch, and on his first day off, too!
691
01:17:29,680 --> 01:17:31,920
I'm very proud.
692
01:17:32,840 --> 01:17:35,000
I'm not very fond of public displays,
693
01:17:35,080 --> 01:17:38,640
and it's not false modesty on my part that prompts me to say
694
01:17:38,720 --> 01:17:41,800
that I don't think I deserve it.
695
01:17:41,880 --> 01:17:43,680
Far from it.
696
01:17:44,240 --> 01:17:50,000
I've done what I could as a painter and that seems to me to be sufficient.
697
01:17:51,120 --> 01:17:55,760
I don't want to be compared to the great masters of the past.
698
01:18:00,440 --> 01:18:03,600
8th of December, 1919.
699
01:18:04,640 --> 01:18:09,559
You can imagine how painful the loss of Renoir has been to me.
700
01:18:11,080 --> 01:18:15,640
With him goes a part of my own life.
701
01:18:17,240 --> 01:18:20,360
The battles and enthusiasms of youth.
702
01:18:22,520 --> 01:18:24,559
It's hard.
703
01:18:25,680 --> 01:18:29,160
I am the last survivor of the group.
704
01:18:41,920 --> 01:18:45,080
31st of October, 1921.
705
01:18:46,559 --> 01:18:52,480
Dear Georges, I am sending you the detailed information I promised you
706
01:18:52,559 --> 01:18:59,400
on the subject of the donation of my Décorations to the State.
707
01:19:05,640 --> 01:19:09,000
I will agree to the room in the Orangerie,
708
01:19:09,080 --> 01:19:13,120
on condition that the Beaux-Arts administration
709
01:19:13,200 --> 01:19:17,320
undertakes to do the work there that I judge necessary.
710
01:19:20,200 --> 01:19:22,600
Instead of the 12 panels,
711
01:19:22,680 --> 01:19:25,240
I'll provide 18.
712
01:19:25,320 --> 01:19:31,080
It's true that the number doesn't matter, only the quality.
713
01:19:37,800 --> 01:19:40,880
8th of May, 1922.
714
01:19:42,080 --> 01:19:48,680
I'm almost blind and I'm having to abandon work altogether.
715
01:19:48,760 --> 01:19:51,400
It's hard but that's the way it is.
716
01:19:52,320 --> 01:19:55,640
A sad end, despite my good health.
717
01:20:02,040 --> 01:20:04,720
9th of September, 1922.
718
01:20:04,800 --> 01:20:10,400
Dear Georges, went yesterday for a consultation in Paris.
719
01:20:10,480 --> 01:20:14,559
Result: one eye absolutely gone.
720
01:20:14,640 --> 01:20:17,280
An operation will be essential.
721
01:20:22,280 --> 01:20:24,160
Meanwhile, there's a course of treatment
722
01:20:24,240 --> 01:20:27,240
that might make the other eye better
723
01:20:27,320 --> 01:20:29,640
and enable me to paint.
724
01:20:44,160 --> 01:20:48,400
22nd of June, 1923.
725
01:20:48,480 --> 01:20:51,680
Doctor, I'm in the depths of despair.
726
01:20:51,760 --> 01:20:56,120
I can see nothing outside or in the distance.
727
01:20:56,200 --> 01:21:01,559
It makes me sorry that I ever decided to go ahead with that fatal operation.
728
01:21:01,640 --> 01:21:04,520
Excuse me for being so frank and allow me to say
729
01:21:04,600 --> 01:21:10,040
that I think it's criminal to have placed me in such a predicament.
730
01:21:11,160 --> 01:21:16,760
The distortion and exaggerated colours that I see are quite terrifying.
731
01:21:19,360 --> 01:21:23,160
21st of October, 1923.
732
01:21:23,240 --> 01:21:27,280
Doctor, I received the spectacles from Germany
733
01:21:27,360 --> 01:21:32,880
and much to my surprise the results are very good.
734
01:21:33,000 --> 01:21:36,559
I can see green again, red
735
01:21:36,640 --> 01:21:41,280
and, at last, an attenuated blue.
736
01:21:42,440 --> 01:21:45,840
It would be perfect if the frames were better.
737
01:21:45,920 --> 01:21:49,200
The two lenses are too close together.
738
01:21:54,559 --> 01:21:58,559
Giverny, 27th of July, 1925.
739
01:21:59,440 --> 01:22:02,800
Dear Doctor, I'm delighted to be able to tell you
740
01:22:02,880 --> 01:22:06,120
that I've truly recovered my sight at last.
741
01:22:06,200 --> 01:22:09,160
In short, I can live and breathe again.
742
01:22:09,240 --> 01:22:13,360
I am overjoyed to see everything once more,
743
01:22:13,440 --> 01:22:16,040
and I'm working passionately.
744
01:22:36,400 --> 01:22:40,360
Giverny, 21st of June, 1926.
745
01:22:41,800 --> 01:22:44,800
I have always had a horror of theories.
746
01:22:49,200 --> 01:22:54,640
My only merit is that I have painted directly from nature...
747
01:22:58,800 --> 01:23:04,640
..seeking to convey my impressions of her most elusive effects.
748
01:23:18,680 --> 01:23:23,120
Giverny, 18th of September, 1926.
749
01:23:24,800 --> 01:23:28,000
I'm glad to say that I'm getting better
750
01:23:28,080 --> 01:23:33,280
although at times I'm in great pain, so much so that in fact
751
01:23:33,360 --> 01:23:38,240
I was thinking of preparing my palette and brushes to resume work.
752
01:23:38,880 --> 01:23:43,600
But relapses and a further bout of pain prevented it.
753
01:23:44,680 --> 01:23:46,440
I'm not giving up that hope
754
01:23:46,520 --> 01:23:52,080
and I am occupying myself with some major alterations in my studios
755
01:23:52,160 --> 01:23:56,240
and plans to perfect the garden.
756
01:23:59,920 --> 01:24:03,640
You ought to know in any case that,
757
01:24:03,720 --> 01:24:07,040
if I don't recover my strength sufficiently
758
01:24:07,120 --> 01:24:12,360
to do what I want to my panels for the Orangerie,
759
01:24:12,440 --> 01:24:16,400
I've decided to offer them as they are.
760
01:24:16,480 --> 01:24:21,720
Yours forever, Claude Monet.
58535
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