A French artist, Gabrielle Thierry deserves a warm welcome in the United States for her colorful and enchanting large-scale paintings inspired by Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” murals. Shipped directly from Paris, France, her eight oil-on-canvas paintings are on exhibit through early October at the Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross.

Thierry employs a complex theoretical system of her own invention to “translate” Monet’s late works into a personal vision involving art and music. But to appreciate Thierry’s art, the viewer must look directly at the paintings without considering her theories. Putting aside Thierry’s musical correspondence theory, her paintings may be appreciated for their inventive, decorative qualities and their rich, almost bouncing-ball interplay of circles and rectangles. All geometrical, each color shape holds its own against the next, a veritable bubble bath of color that’s innovative and pleasing to look at. Thierry’s art will enliven any dull spot in a home or public venue.

Her method of painting is well documented through photographs. A photo, included in the exhibition announcement, shows her with her easel and canvas set up, painting in front of Monet’s murals at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. Comparing her paintings with Monet’s, it is possible to see how Thierry’s compositions are directly influenced by the Impressionist master’s subtle shifts in color and value. The correspondence is visible, and to be explicit, she retains Monet’s titles for her works.

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