Claude Monet's The Water Lily Pond

4. The Impressionists also understood that light and shadow are seen in glances and moments, and are ever changing. They began to worry less about smooth transitions of color and more about making the color and contrast stand out, to catch the eye like it would in real life.

During his ‘Dutch’ period, Van Gogh’s subject matter was primarily focused on the lifestyle of the poor and the bible (Dubecky). In his ‘French’ period, Van Gogh had begun to shift his focus to drawing nude figures and portraits. Monet, conversely, liked to paint his subject matters in series. He would paint “the same subject at different times of the day in different lights” (Brown 1536). Some series that he painted included water lilies, bridges, and haystacks. Something that Van Gogh and Monet both really took passion in is basing their art on their life experiences. They both painted their surroundings such as landscapes, seascapes, and people around them. Van Gogh would also draw still lifes of food and would paint paintings based on his emotions during his recovered bouts of mental illness.

Monet's painting Sunrise displays vivid color, which is commonly used among impressionists. The painting is of the sun rising over the lake, over looking the bay and the boats within. "Sunrise is a patently a seascape; but the painting says more about how one sees than about what one sees. It transcribes the fleeting effects of light and the changing atmosphere of water and air into a tissue of small dots and streaks of color-the elements of pure perception" (Fiero 114). This painting is typical of its style because it captures light at that moment. The sun is rising and its color is projected to everything in its path. Monet seems to capture this

Both groups painted contemporary pieces, inspired by landscapes and modern life. Impressionists focused on the lighting, and the natural movement of the setting they were painting. They painted things en Plein air (in open air). In order to truly capture the essence of an image, they believed that you must be experiencing it firsthand. They started to break away from the Realist perspective, with the lack of dimension and modeling. Impressionist had a particular interest in capturing transitory moments in time. They used unique angles and thinner brush strokes to capture the visual element of being in motion. There was a bigger emphasis on the use of color in impressionist works. They used a technique in which they applied color to already wet paint, to develop the colors of the painting. This style of painting was a gateway for post- impressionism.

Claude Monet's Grainstack (Sunset) is the painting I chose from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Monet was an impressionist painter in France, and did most of his work at his home at Giverny. Impressionism got its name from a painting that Monet painted, Impression Sunrise. Impressionist paintings are put into a category based on characteristics such as light that draws attention to objects, rough textures, and visual pleasure that the viewer receives upon looking at the paintings. Impressionist paintings are art for arts sake and focus on leisure and nature. These paintings are generally the most well known and popular paintings because of their attractive appearance.

Claude Monet sparked the beginning of the Impressionist movement and began to paint “en plein air” as suggested by a friend. Monet focused on the creation of a modern painting instead of subjects on social commentary that the artists (the “Realists”) before him depicted. He explored personal impressions of light and color throughout his career, mainly focusing on the way light played across a surface. He would change the appearance of a painting the more the natural light changed throughout the day, “capturing the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere” (Stokstad 989). This is shown in his painting Impression: Sunrise; even though, this painting, and technique, were criticized. Critics ridiculed his fast, open brushstrokes, and calling it “unfinished” (Stokstad 987). However, this was the intention of Impression: Sunrise and that of his future paintings as well.

Art is always evolving with the people causing the styles and technique. In the 1900s style of paintings started to change dramatically. The colors got brighter and the lines became more curved, images started to become more abstract. This changed the meaning of the paintings to be a more imaginative and creative. Cezanne and matisse were to artists that painted in the 1900s and they changed with the times.

Furthermore, since Monet created this painting while looking at the flower garden directly, the water lilies painted are realistic and in proportion to the rest of the painting. The painting is able to give the viewer the experience of physically being in the garden, as the painting is painted from Monet’s perspective.

. . was to share the experience of a blind person suddenly restored to sight, so that he could see the world anew.” Even the way in which he approached painting was out of the ordinary. Instead of trying to paint specific objects, Monet broke the objects down into the colors and shapes that made them up. He once gave advice to an American painter in 1890, saying “When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field, or whatever.

It is also almost as if the painting has a smooth flowing texture to it, which indicates that Monet used is his paintbrush very precisely. The composition of this piece is extremely satisfying, meaning that the water lilies could've been placed anywhere in the painting but the way the painting is interpreted would still be the same.

When entering the room, people crowded around Monet’s pieces, which felt like an honor to see the type and techniques his work has. The colors describe the feeling of an early morning. The painting has a muted palette of blues, greens, and grays. The sunrise is orange and yellow which are surrounded by the clouds and smoke from steamboats. Three boats are shapes and visible while the rest fade into the distance. This painting is an example of plein air or outdoor painting. I also notice that Monet layered the colors so that when I viewed the painting from a far distance I knew what the painting was about however when I looked at it up close I saw brush strokes and

Claude Monet, the forefather of French Impressionist painting, dedicated the majority of his life illuminating the canvas with his series of water lilies during the 20th century. His style of work is recognized worldwide for its variation in color and peaceful undertone. Although Monet was baptized Catholic and was later classified as an atheist by art historians, Katharine Lochnan, a curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) regards Monet as Zen Buddhist due to his uniquely spiritual presence on the canvas. Monet spent hours in his Japanese water garden, observing the pink hues of his hybridized water lilies while in a hypnotic state. Lochnan curated a new exhibition titled, “Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces from Monet, Van Gogh, and

Claude Monet was born in Paris in 1840 and would become known as one of France’s famous painters. Monet is often attributed with being the leading figure of the style of impressionism; but this was not always the case. Monet started out his career as a caricaturist, showing great skill. Eventually “Monet began to accompany [Eugène] Boudin as the older artist . . . worked outdoors, . . . this “truthful” painting, Monet later claimed, had determined his path as an artist.” Monet’s goal took off as his popularity grew in the mid 1870s after he switched from figure painting to the landscape impressionist style. William Seitz supports this statement through his quote, “The landscapes Monet painted at Argenteuil between 1872 and 1877 are

During the Modern Era of the late 19th century and the early 20th century, many artists were turning away from the idea of painting realistic images. Photography, having just been developed for public use a few decades earlier, made artists of the day focus less on painting as an precise copy of what is seen, as had been done for centuries. Since the Middle Ages, most artists painted exact representations of life. Starting in the late 1800s, though, many artists were starting to embrace the theory of art as an impression of what is seen. Impressionism, the art movement that began in the 1870s in France, was the first real development of this new concept of painting. Impressionists, such as Claude Monet, sought to put on canvas how they

Impressionism emerged in France during the late half of the 19th century and could be considered one of the first distinctly modern movement in painting. It was often rejected by many scholars for they believed it lacked a certain “high quality” or “polished” look that was seen in works of art in the past. The “idea” of Impressionism was for the artist to paint in the moment, to capture the sensory effect of the scene and in order to create this affect Impressionists moved from the studio to the streets painting in what is known as, “en plein air.” In order to create this aesthetic Impressionist worked with loose brushstrokes and lightened their palattes to achieve pure and intense colors. Traditional linear perspective was thrown out as well as clarity of form and the idea that