Career The Impressionists

The Impressionists - Claude Monet (2006)

It’s a three-part dramatised biography of the Impressionists artists. It follows Monet ... in his eighties reflecting on his life but also introduces the other artists that were connected to the Impressionist movement. So you’ve got Renoir, Degas, Manet, Cezanne. Each episode kind of goes in[to] ... their stories as well.
(The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

Filmed in France, and Bluebell Railway, East Sussex, England

The dvd of the series can be purchased through:

Amazon.com (region 1)
Amazon.co.uk (region 2)
ABC shop online (region 4)
EzyDVD (region 4)

Director
Tim Dunn

Writers
Colin Swash
Sarah Woods

Production details

Actors
Richard Armitage - Claude Monet
Julian Glover - Claude Monet (at 80)
Isobel Pravda - Camille Cezanne
Amanda Root - Alice Monet (Hoschedé)
Charlie Condou - August Renoir
Frederic Bazille - James Lance
Aden Gillett - Edgar Degas
Andrew Havill - Edouard Manet
Will Keen - Cezanne

I think that was something that a lot of the artists did. ... they got rid of the façade of how to create a painting and they kind of freed it up and went out into the open air and did their own thing. (The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

We were very lucky, actually. We had a very talented artist who reconstructed the paintings and deconstructed them as well so that we could go into various stages of painting and – I’m familiar with oil on canvas. I’ve done a few things with it ... (The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

... he actually did manage to work out how those brush strokes went on. Which I think is amazing, that he could see how they were created so that we could actually make the right movements. (The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

There was one particular moment where the guy had done a beautiful reconstruction of the Haystacks and there’s me daubing kind of purple paint on it, saying, you know, ‘Is this OK to do this?’ It was great. (The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

I find it quite shocking - that prolific aspect of an artist, and I was really interested to see how a man that radically changed the art movement and lived with great poverty and struggle became that placemat. So, it was a very interesting exploration for me. (The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

And painted the experience of what they saw rather than trying to depict exactly what they saw. In a way it was – I guess it was kind of like photography. See what I mean? Which was an interpretation of what they were seeing and feeling about that. Which is why Monet painted Rouen cathedral 20 times because he couldn’t quite capture what he wanted from the moment because the moment kept changing. (The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

I’ve always wanted to do that, to play that kind of character because there’s a great body of literature you could look back on, biographies. And there’s a responsibility because there’s probably still members of the family that exist so you have a much greater responsibility and, I suppose, less freedom to do your own thing. So it was a good challenge.
(The Simon Mayo Show, BBC Radio FiveLive, April 19, 2006)

I suppose it's not all that attractive, all that hair and a funny beard, but when you're working from somebody real, you don't really have a say. (Independent, The (London), "A favourable impression", April 19, 2006)

I didn't particularly like the paintings - you see them on every tea towel and souvenir pen ... I was more of a Cezanne fan than anything. But I kind of fell in love with Monet's work after playing him and seeing how it was made. (Daily Express Saturday Magazine, "Good Impressions", p. 17, April 29, 2006)

A while ago I bought a couple of giant canvases that I repaint now and again to fit my latest decorating scheme, just for creative expression. (Daily Express Saturday Magazine, "Good Impressions", p. 17, April 29, 2006)

He was convinced he should follow his vision, so I played him with exuberant Gallic mannerisms, because the French are quite broadminded in that way. (Daily Express Saturday Magazine, "Good Impressions", p. 17, April 29, 2006)