Pres de l’Orangerie à Manotte, 1989; Dahlias Etoile, 2004, Jean-Marie Toulgouat. Courtesy David Messum Fine Art. Photos: Monet's Garden, Giverny (c) Andrew Lawson
Jean-Marie Toulgouat and Giverny
Initially resisting painting, Toulgouat left Giverny in 1947 to train as an architect. For sixteen years, he practiced as a landscape architect in Paris, where he designed municipal parks and gardens. In 1964, he returned to painting, selling the only original work by Monet that he possessed. Accompanied by his wife, the late art historian and writer Claire Joyes, he returned to Giverny and the house where he had grown up. There, he embraced the life of a painter and embarked on an ambitious project to safeguard the integrity of Monet’s last home and to restore Giverny to its former brilliance.
The task of planning and reconstructing the long-neglected gardens and studio was immense. Possessing an intimate knowledge of Monet’s home, Toulgouat’s recollections of growing up at Giverny in the 1930s were invaluable for their restoration. It is because of him that the walls in Monet’s studios were ‘returned to their true colours’, and the planting and borders in the garden were restored to Monet’s original design.
Le Grande Allée, Giverny, 1999, Jean-Marie Toulgouat. Courtesy David Messum Fine Art
The exhibition is held in conjunction with an exhibition of newly discovered works by Jean-Marie Toulgouat, running 6 March – 4 April 2024 at David Messum Fine Art, who represent the Artist’s Estate.
The works in this exhibition are available for purchase in aid of the Garden Museum’s educational and community programmes.
