Monet & Friends Alive Immersive Experience Review
Step inside the masterwork paintings of Claude Monet and other Impressionist artists during Monet & Friends Alive – Life, Light & Color. Monet & Friends Alive is a unique immersive exhibit that allows you to see Impressionist artworks like never before.
Monet & Friends Alive – Life, Light & Color is brought to life by Grande Experiences, the same company behind the globally acclaimed Van Gogh Alive experience. The production uses the unique and immersive SENSORY4™ technology to bring paintings from the Impressionist period to life through vibrant visuals and an inspired musical score.
Breathtaking paintings from Claude Monet and his contemporaries like Pissarro, Renoir, and Cézanne are projected on enormous canvases to make the details larger than life.
This is a traveling exhibit that is making its way around the world. I saw it when it was on display at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.
Monet & Friends Alive – Life, Light & Color
Your journey through Monet & Friends Alive begins in a gallery room with traditional museum-like exhibits detailing the life and works of Claude Monet and his Impressionist contemporaries.
The informational plaques cover brief details of each feature artist’s life and notable works as well as life in 19th century Paris, the Impressionist movement as a whole, and the relationship between light, color, and sound presented in the experience.
Armed with this knowledge, you’ll enter the main immersive experience.
Projections of Impressionist artworks illuminate oversized canvases on the walls and floors of the event space. You are able to move about the room, or you can pick a bench or a spot on the floor to sit and enjoy the 45 minute show.
The paintings are displayed on the screen in time with a musical score including songs by including Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and Offenbach. The Impressionist works are at times interspersed with quotes from the artists and stock footage that relates to the works on the other screens.
At times, the display animates portions of the paintings, bringing to life the ripples in the water or the wind through the flowers, but the majority of the paintings are splashed across the screen one after another.
There is also another small part of the experience: an immersive photo display where you can become part of a Monet-inspired painting with a bridge over waterlilies. Where this is displayed depends on the venue (for us, it was across the Biltmore Estate at Antler Hill Village).
Meanwhile, at the Biltmore House, I also got to see two seldom-seen original Monet landscape paintings from George Vanderbilt’s private collection on display in the salon for the first time. This isn’t typical for the immersive experience, but they’re lovely paintings, so I’ve added them below so you can see them too!
What to Know Before You Go
Monet & Friends Alive – Life, Light & Color is currently on display in Indianapolis, Indiana and in Melbourne, Australia.
Ticket prices typically range from $20-$30 per person.
You should allow 45-75 minutes to walk through the full exhibit.
Read next: Step Inside the World of Monet at This Immersive Experience in Atlanta
Where to Stay in Asheville
Find the perfect place to rest your head on your visit to Asheville, from the top rated accommodations to unique stays you can’t get anywhere else.
- Where We Stayed: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Asheville Downtown
- Top Hotel: Princess Anne Hotel
- Great Value: Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Asheville Downtown Tunnel Road
- Unique Stay: The Inn on Biltmore Estate
More Things to Do in Asheville
- 4 Days in Asheville Itinerary: Asheville, North Carolina Guide
- North Carolina Hikes: Mount Mitchell Summit Trail
- 4 Scenic Drive Photo Ops Along the Blue Ridge Parkway
- North Carolina Hikes: Craggy Pinnacle Trail
Ready to visit Asheville, North Carolina? Plan your trip with these tips.
- Book Your Flight: Find the cheapest flights using Skyscanner, my favorite flight search engine.
- Find Accommodation: You can find top hotels in Asheville using Booking.com.
- Start Packing: Make sure you’ve packed everything you need with my packing list resources.
Cheers!
Paige
Have you visited the Monet & Friends immersive experience at the Biltmore in Asheville? Let me know in the comments!
This looks amazing! I would love to see it.
You should check to see if it’s coming near you any time soon!
Great posts. Looks like you had a fantastic experience. I will have to add it to my bucket list. Thanks for sharing.
It may be coming near you sometime, so be sure to check it out!
I’ve seen immersive Van Gogh and I absolutely loved it! This is next on the list!
If you like the immersive Van Gogh then you’re sure to like the immersive Monet!
I’ve heard such good things about these immersive exhibits – this Monet one looks fabulous!
The immersive exhibits can be so fun! I’ve done three exhibits like these and a couple other immersive experiences, and they’ve all been so unique and incredible.