Making Monet Look Like A Hack…But Who Seems To Care?

Edinburgh’s mamoth Monet show has Richard Dorment wondering if Monet “may not be the most overrated painter of the 19th century. Monet was a virtuoso, like the composer Rossini. Both were prolific with their enormous talents. Ravishing though it is, their work needs to be taken in small doses so that you don’t notice how formulaic and repetitive it can be. This sprawling, grab-bag of a show looks at the period 1878-83” and reveals a formula applied over and over again. “So what if the show is lousy? It’s Monet, stupid. The box-office queues are long, and the gift shop is busy. The cynicism of the whole enterprise boggles the mind.”