Contre-déclin: Monet's Nymphéas as Antidote to Spengler
Laurence Bertrand Dorléac's book "Contre-déclin" (Gallimard) counters Oswald Spengler's "Decline of the West" with Claude Monet's Nymphéas. Spengler's work, begun in 1914 and published in 1918, became a bible for interwar intellectuals. Dorléac sees it as a symptom and contrasts it with Monet's masterpiece, created as war approached while he suffered vision problems. She interprets Monet's late works as a response to soldiers' struggles, opposing intellectual pessimism with artistic vitality. The key to Monet's energy lies in his love for Japanese prints, popularized by the 1867 and 1878 universal exhibitions. Dorléac links Monet's repetition in Nymphéas to Hokusai's prints, seeing it as veneration rather than banalization, similar to Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire. The book invites turning toward life forces rather than succumbing to the vertigo of the "world of yesterday."
Key facts
- Laurence Bertrand Dorléac published 'Contre-déclin' with Gallimard.
- The book counters Oswald Spengler's 'Decline of the West'.
- Spengler's work was begun in 1914 and published in 1918.
- Spengler was a detractor of the Weimar Republic.
- 'Decline of the West' was translated into French in 1948.
- Dorléac contrasts Spengler with Monet's Nymphéas.
- Monet painted Nymphéas as war approached while suffering vision problems.
- Monet's love for Japanese prints is key to his artistic energy.
- Japanese prints were popularized by the 1867 and 1878 universal exhibitions.
- Paul Claudel wrote 'Connaissance de l'Est' (1900) and 'L'Oiseau noir dans le soleil levant' (1926).
- Dorléac compares repetition in Hokusai's prints and Monet's Nymphéas to Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire.
Entities
Artists
- Laurence Bertrand Dorléac
- Oswald Spengler
- Claude Monet
- Hokusai
- Paul Claudel
- Paul Cézanne
Institutions
- Gallimard
Locations
- Giverny
- France
Sources
- artpress —