Beyond Monet Makes a Splash in Milwaukee

An immersive art experience unlike any other has made its way to Milwaukee. This fall, the Wisconsin Center, at 400 W. Wisconsin Ave, is presenting “Beyond Monet,” a breathtaking testament to the work of Impressionist artist Claude Monet. The exhibit is an enchanting and deeply moving place to find peace from everyday life. Complete with 400 of Monet’s works and accompanied by an original score, “Beyond Monet” is a tribute to the struggles, depths, life and work of an artist who deeply believed in the message of his art.

Beyond Monet will run at the Wisconsin Center through Jan. 8, 2023. For tickets and more information, visit Beyond Monet Milwaukee: The Immersive Experience.

“The Impressionists in general, and particularly Monet, are all about light. Everything is about light. Light is what he’s painting, never really the object, never really the subject. It’s about being inside of it, playing with it, having it surround you. It’s really about the movement of the brush strokes, the intensity,” says Fanny Curtat, the project’s art history consultant. “It’s about change, about subtle differences. The way all of these elements make up life and make up beauty. The fleeting aspect of it is what makes it special.” The paintings are animated to move, from the waves of his water-centered paintings to the trains in his landscapes. The resulting feeling is that of being present in a stunning work of art.

Throughout his life, Monet’s work was the target for intense criticism. At the beginning of his career, his work was viewed as too radical, and at the end of it, too outdated. Despite backlash, Monet completed over 2,000 works in his lifetime. “I think there’s more to it than people think. It’s not just easy, or beautiful pictures. He struggled for something. He struggled for a reason. He was obsessed for a reason. He was defending a point of view that was incredibly subjective, so that art was about what you see and you perceive, not about creating an ideal,” says Curtat. “It’s about seeing beauty around you. That is what’s so inspiring.”

The exhibit features many specials, including senior, student, and military discounts on tickets, and events like “Beyond Yoga,” which, in partnership with YogaSix Milwaukee, holds a yoga class in the Immersion Room. “For us at the Wisconsin Center, we work hard to think unconventionally. To know we can bring this opportunity into Southeastern Wisconsin, this is the kind of event that benefits our city,” says Sarah Maio, the Wisconsin Center’s vice president of marketing and communications. “The exhibit is such a unique removal from the everyday.”

Monet’s work is that of an artist with a story to tell, an obsession and need to create paintings outside of the norm, to use color and nature to present the world with his own original perspective, despite how unappreciated that perspective was. “The gift of his work is self-abandonment. To lose yourself in this world of color, use it, and see it for what it is instead of always looking for an ideal. This exhibit is just taking it a step further from what he always wanted to do,” says Curtat. “He’s suffering from the beauty of his work. He knew what he needed to do, and he felt his art is worth something.”