little isle in the lake in Monet's grounds at Giverny. He will 
see the reflections of the sky in the A'i^ter, the floating lilies, the 
enchanted atmosphere of earth, air and a flowery fairy land." 
Perhaps no man has had a wider influence upon the art of 
painting at the present day than Claude Monet. He has taught 
not only the artist but the amateur to observe color as it really 
is and not according to conventional teaching. Blue must be 
his favorite color for he has found it everywhere in nature. 
His blue haystacks were greeted at first with shouts of derision, 
but we have learned, thanks to him, that hay can be blue. His 
pictures in series — the Haystacks, the Poplars, the Thames, 
The Coast Guard House, the Waterlilies, Venice — taking 
a theme and repeating it with almost no variation except in 
the color, the light, the air — what a revelation they are ! 
The sun is dancing in and out of the fleecy white clouds and 
Monet says, with a real pride in his voice ; ' * Now we will see 
the garden." For this garden is his composition also, where he 
uses flowers and plants to get his effects instead of paint. As 
we leave the Temple, as this studio is called, the Master himself 
carefully adjusts the fish-net draped across the entrance. "For 
the birds will fly in unless we do, ' ' he explains. No cats but a 
stone one and, what is more unusual in a French family, no 
dogs are permitted on the place, nothing to interfere with the 
flowers. There are a few pigeons and two white ducks 
confined in high wire cages in a far comer ; the glass-houses and 
the kitchen garden are also out of sight. Formerly sixteen men 
kept the place in order, but latterlj^ there have been less. Not 
one workman did we see during our stay of three hours. Was 
it so planned as if this fairy-land had its own wee keepers ? Or 
was it by mere chance ? 
There is an appearance of wildness, I might better say of 
natural growth about the garden, as if for instance the roses 
from all over the earth had come here to take possession, dwarf 
roses, tree roses, plain bush roses, climbing roses, covering every 
wall and building. To be sure paths are outlined with iris, white, 
yellow and blue or with English daisies, or pink phlox or pansies 
of incredible size. The border plants on the other side from the 
paths are allowed more liberty, especially the iris which is 
mingled with yellow lilies and blue delphiniums. The 
picturesque old apple trees must be a vision in the springtime; 
around one of them is a circle of blue anchusa, such a blue, 
from which rise stalks of creamy fox-gloves ! The effect is 
indescribably beautiful. One azure avenue of anchusa has a 
border of blue lobelia with lemon anthemis between the two. 
''We also have anchusa," I venture to say, "but not like 
this. Is it a special variety?" Each blossom is an inch across 
and each upright bush, sometimes five feet high, is covered 
with dense bloom. "No, it is not a special variety. I feed it 
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