Richard Armitage + Claude Monet retrospective

Richard Armitage as Claude Monet in episode 2 of The Impressionists. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

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I’m wrapped up in a long writing project for the blog at the moment — made a lot of progress but it’s still going to take some time. To divert you in the meantime, if you’re not preoccupied by listening to all of the soundtrack for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, (I admit that I’m starting to feel like I’ve reached some kind of saturation point on “pre” releases and now I am going to enjoy the publicity but wait for the film itself so that I am spared a few enjoyable surprises for when I actually see it), I thought I’d point you to this old radio interview with Richard Armitage, which is available at Richard Armitage Online. He’s being interviewed in the leadup to the initial broadcast of The Impressionists by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio Five; the broadcast date was April 19, 2006. I think I must have missed it earlier, as I didn’t remember it at all and listened with interest. In any case, it’s eighteen minutes long, so even if what you mainly want is some of that luscious voice, it’s good for that. Otherwise, its content can best be summarized as incongruous: Mayo asks Armitage a lot of questions about impressionist painting and his take on the impressionist painters, and then takes listener questions, almost all of which are pure gush. The interviewer insults the questions (and by implication, the listeners) and Armitage, as is typical, shows nothing but respect for his fans.

I was intrigued to find this interview, just because Mr. Armitage doesn’t usually get such sophisticated questions from interviewers these days, and I would suggest it’s definitely worth a relisten — even though I am on record as not admiring Monet as a person and not liking impressionist painting at all. There’s this disarming moment when he’s asked what he knew about Monet before playing him, and he mentions that he’d eaten a meal with a Monet painting on the place mat and sent Mother’s Day cards with Monet motifs. As a teaser, I’ll note that Armitage says, in reply to the question about whether he has a favorite Monet painting, that he found it in Paris, a “very grey” painting of the Houses of Parliament. He doesn’t say where in Paris he saw the piece, but wikipedia says there are two paintings from Monet’s “Houses of Parliament” series (1900-05) on public view in Paris.

One is at the Musée d’Orsay. I’ve seen this one myself:

Claude Monet, “Londres, le Parlement. Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard” (1904). Oil on canvas. Source.

And the second is at the Musée Marmottan Monet (a museum whose existence I was unaware of, although I see now that they have a collection of illuminated manuscripts, which are more my speed):

Claude Monet, “Londres. Le Parlement. Reflets sur la Tamise” (1905). Oil on canvas. Source.

~ by Servetus on November 13, 2012.