VERVE 27

09/29/2026

09/15/2026

09/15/2026

09/15/2026

09/15/2026

09/05/2026

09/03/2026

09/01/2026

Around 1873, shortly after moving to Argenteuil, Monet had a boat built with a small wooden cabin on deck, just enough room, in his words, to set up his easel. He got the idea from his friend and fellow painter Charles-François Daubigny, who had built a similar floating studio years earlier, nicknamed Le Botin, to paint scenes along the Seine, Oise, and Marne rivers.

The boat gave Monet access to views no one could paint from shore, sailboats gliding past, reflections shifting on the water, riverbanks from angles only reachable by drifting alongside them. He worked from it regularly at Argenteuil throughout the 1870s, and his friend Édouard Manet even painted him at work aboard it in 1874, with his wife Camille seated nearby.

Monet later brought the same boat with him to Giverny, mooring it near his water garden and using it well into his later years. He painted the boat itself several times, including a well-known 1876 canvas titled The Studio Boat, now held at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

The original boat no longer survives, but full-scale replicas have been built for exhibitions, including the one shown here, giving visitors a sense of the cramped, floating workspace where some of Monet's river scenes were painted.

08/28/2026

Yayoi Kusama (1929 to 2026) ❣️

Yayoi Kusma was one of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, making significant contributions to the Minimalist and Pop Art movements. Since the 1950s, Kusama created a multitude of hypnotic works that emphasize the negative spaces formed by dots or holes, earning her recognition as the “polka dot queen.” She utilized these repeating patterns across many forms, including painting, drawing, sculpture, film, performance, and immersive installation.

The artist lived openly about her struggles with mental health but continued to find purpose through her work: “I fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only method I have found that relieves my illness is to keep creating art.”

Artwork credit: Yayoi Kusama, Puzzle (with case), 2009 (based on Yayoi Kusama, “Self-Portrait,” 2008); Published by RxArt; Photo courtesy of RxArt

[Image description: A finished puzzle based on a self-portrait of Yayoi Kusama.]