3000 piece puzzle, "Pecheur Dans la Barque au Printemps" by Vincent van Gogh, MB, Europe.
I finished this enjoyable puzzle yesterday with the sky being the final area. I'm somewhat surprised that it wasn't a bit more difficult, considering Van Gogh's scattered, frenetic brushstrokes, but the water and sky could be fairly easily separated and the riverbank on the left side, while difficult, had quite different colors from the rest of the puzzle. There were some discrepancies in sharpness of the print, too. Generally speaking I find Western European puzzles from the 'golden era' not very hard due to my familiarity with the piece shapes, which are much more varied than in many contemporary puzzles.
Published in 2001, this would have to be one of the last large art puzzles that MB made before being run into the ground by owner Hasbro, which had a penchant for buying old established brands (they also bought Parker Brothers) and destroying them, intentionally or not, I cannot say. This puzzle was made in France, and from the box it looks to have only been made for the French market, so it may be rarer than some of the 1990s MBs, which were distributed somewhat more widely. It was probably produced in conjunction with Nathan or possibly Educa - the box says it was made in the "communité Européene."
This painting dates to 1887 and was heavily influenced by the work of Paul Signac (one can recognize this from the colors used, especially in the trees), which inspired Van Gogh to add more vivid color to his work. The full title of the painting is "Fishing in Spring, the Pont du Clichy," near the town of Asnières. The painting is about half the size of the puzzle, and is part of the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Completed in 30 hr., 13 mins. with no box reference. 3036 total pieces: 35.8 secs./piece; 100.5 pcs./hr. Difficulty rating: 3.6/10.
3000 piece puzzle, "Pecheur Dans la Barque au Printemps" by Vincent van Gogh, MB, Europe.
I finished this enjoyable puzzle yesterday with the sky being the final area. I'm somewhat surprised that it wasn't a bit more difficult, considering Van Gogh's scattered, frenetic brushstrokes, but the water and sky could be fairly easily separated and the riverbank on the left side, while difficult, had quite different colors from the rest of the puzzle. There were some discrepancies in sharpness of the print, too. Generally speaking I find Western European puzzles from the 'golden era' not very hard due to my familiarity with the piece shapes, which are much more varied than in many contemporary puzzles.
Published in 2001, this would have to be one of the last large art puzzles that MB made before being run into the ground by owner Hasbro, which had a penchant for buying old established brands (they also bought Parker Brothers) and destroying them, intentionally or not, I cannot say. This puzzle was made in France, and from the box it looks to have only been made for the French market, so it may be rarer than some of the 1990s MBs, which were distributed somewhat more widely. It was probably produced in conjunction with Nathan or possibly Educa - the box says it was made in the "communité Européene."
This painting dates to 1887 and was heavily influenced by the work of Paul Signac (one can recognize this from the colors used, especially in the trees), which inspired Van Gogh to add more vivid color to his work. The full title of the painting is "Fishing in Spring, the Pont du Clichy," near the town of Asnières. The painting is about half the size of the puzzle, and is part of the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Completed in 30 hr., 13 mins. with no box reference. 3036 total pieces: 35.8 secs./piece; 100.5 pcs./hr. Difficulty rating: 3.6/10.