Masters of Art – Claude Monet
Cook Islands. 10 Dollars 2023. Silver .999. 2 oz. 50 mm. Proof. Mintage: 1,500 pieces. Special technology: smartminting® (Ultra High Relief) with partial color application. Minted by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich.
Description of the Coin
One side shows a self-portrait of the artist Claude Monet of 1886; in the background a detail from one of his water lily paintings; on the rim the year 2023.
The other side depicts a painter in the Rococo style, inspired by the painting Le dessinateur by the French artist Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier; the depicted painting presents the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley (initials: IRB); above it the name of the ruler, below the issuing nation and 10 DOLLARS.
Background
CIT dedicates the second issue of their Masters of Art series to Claude Monet (1840-1926); the first issue featured the legendary artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Monet is considered the founder of Impressionism and a defining figure of classical modernism.
Three years before Claude Monet was born, Louis Daguerre developed his system for the photographic reproduction of reality. In this way, he was the first to deprive artists of their most important task, namely using color to preserve a visual impression for posterity. As photography steadily improved in capturing reality, innovative painters redefined the function of a painting. Claude Monet was a pioneer in this field. He no longer depicted every detail he saw but captured the overall impression evoked by light, the object, and the atmosphere. That is why this art movement is called Impressionism.
His father’s inheritance enabled Claude Monet to create a large and well-tended garden, first in Argenteuil, then in Giverny. It became a source of inspiration for him. Many of his paintings were created here, including countless versions of the water lilies, which CIT picks up with this coin design. Giverny became the center of a colony of artists, where mainly Americans settled down. The Giverny Group brought Impressionism to the United States.
Today, Claude Monet’s paintings are among the most popular exhibits in any museum. One of his paintings sold for $110 million USD in 2019, making it one of the top 10 most expensive paintings in the world.
Further Information
www.cit.li/coins/masters-of-art-claude-monet
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CoinWeek Podcast #155: Ultra-Modern Coins Take Over
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In this episode of the CoinWeek Podcast, we have a lively, interesting, and provocative conversation with Chang Bullock and Orlando Lorenzana of CIT, where we talk about how ultra-modern coins (or postmodern coins, as we call them) have taken over the contemporary coin market and how CIT’s innovations in color and coin minting technology are changing the game for private and sovereign mints.
You cannot walk away from this podcast without learning something about the way minting has changed–and has always been changing throughout the course of monetary history–and we hope it will give you a clearer picture of where we are heading.
