Monet’s Impressionism showed the world as it really is. Monet showed a world in motion, his paintings would show how light would look bouncing off a moving pond, or give the effect of motion blur on a dress during a windy day. Furthermore, Monet was one of the first artist to experiment with color showing the world as it really is and not how it was traditionally perceived. He was able to capture moments as they happened and preserved them for others to see. Claude Monet’s Impressionism was more true to life than other traditional styles of paintings such as so called realism, because of there color, perspective, and tone.
Claude Monet was a pioneer in the art of painting. Besides his unique style there was something he did that no one else did, that was paint things as they actually are. Painters had for years been misleading people and showing the masses an unrealistic view of the world. Our brain has to make guess about what we see and some times that lives changes things as they really are giving us a false picture of our own reality. The sun is something that is always present we know what it looks like and how it feels, but Monet saw something different. What if how we perceived the sun was all wrong, he showcased this in his work Impression Sunrise.
“In the late 1860s, Claude Monet (1840-1926), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) and others painted in a new style, called Impressionism by contemporaries. The name was first used by critics, viewing a new exhibition held in 1874, and was directed precisely — and decisively — at a painting by Monet of The sun is perceived differently in different parts of our mind. To the more primitive subdivisions of our brain, the sun is nearly invisible. But to the primate subdivision, the sun appears normal. Thus, there is an inconsistency between our perception of the sun in the primitive and primate portions of our brain. The sun is poorly defined and ambiguous to the portion of our brain that carries information about position and movement arbor at dawn, which he titled Impression: Sunrise. This painting is a striking example of the new style.” Monet was very interested in how light and weather condition changed the environment. He studied how light would change space and make depth more or less noticeable. this changed the landscape of painting and helped Monet set himself apart from his peers.
Aswell as being a painter Monet was also a great thinker he showed this by experimenting with color. “Between summer 1890 and winter 1891, Monet executed about thirty paintings of the haystacks in a field near his house at Giverny. In the midst of this effort, he wrote to the critic Gustave Geffroy: "I am working very hard, struggling with a series of different effects (haystacks), but at this season the sun sets so fast I cannot follow it. . . . The more I continue, the more I see that a great deal of work is necessary in order to succeed in rendering what I seek." Monet spent a great deal of time on his projects trying to capture the world and the beauty around him. Monet was the first painter to question color and space; until his time oranges would be for example just that orange, Monet showed the world in a new way teaching everyone that colors changed with the day and weather. Space would change the shadows would make the haystacks look closer or further away. The area would be transformed, filled with snow or wet with rain. These transformation seem like common sense, but before Monet art was void of these experiments causing art to be formed with preconceived notions or in other words would be controlled by our brain making guesses about our surroundings .
Monet and other impressionist were among the first painters to work outdoors amongst their subjects. Before painters would stick to the confines of their studios painting from memory or using models. Using the painting “Haystacks” we have learned what an impact leaving the studio had on the world of art.
“The French Impressionists and post-Impressionists change this conception. Claude Monet (1840-1926) work around 1890 demonstrates this development. Monet and his contemporaries begin to paint outdoors, as opposed to the traditional settings of a neutral studio environment. Thus, Monet’s series of haystacks are painted under different light conditions at different times of the day. He would rise before dawn, paint the first canvas for half an hour, by which time the light would have changed. Then he would switch to the second canvas, and so on. The next day he would repeat the process.”
Monet loved the world around him and he was eager to capture the magic that he saw in everyday life. Leaving the studio gave Monet further insight and proved that impressionism could reveal more truth about the world than traditional painting. Monet used what he what he learned from “Haystacks” to inspire him to work on other similar projects such as “Water Lilies.”
“In 1883, Monet moved to Giverny and from the 1890s he enjoyed considerable wealth which allowed him to construct a garden where he painted some of his most ambitious paintings, including over 250 versions of the Waterlilies…”
Water lilies was one of the last works Monet had ever worked on. He grew attached to his new home where he had a garden. He watched as the lighting bounced off the water, he watched how the shapes of the lilies complemented the wave lines of the moving liquid. He spent a great deal of time on this series which expanded to over 250 version yet each painting was unique and proved once again that the world around us was different and new depending on the effects of it’s surroundings. In one painting the water would be still with a deep blue, the next the water would be moving with a hint of violet. The lilies where the main focal point, they are interesting and our eyes are drawn to them because of their shape and form. Monet was also intrigued by shape and form and one of the reason were the way they changed from picture to picture. The lilies bursted with wonderful colors whites, yellows, and red, the flowers mixed with the reflection of the clouds were artwork in their own right, but Monet and his paint brush were merely the conduit that allowed the world to see. The works showed how these shapes were inconsistent and even with the roundness of the lilies the form of them changed depending on the time of the year. He showed a wonderful view and it almost seems like we are there with Monet in his garden. The beauty of these pictures gave Monet continued popularity
“In 1883, Monet moved to Giverny and from the 1890s he enjoyed considerable wealth which allowed him to construct a garden where he painted some of his most ambitious paintings, including over 250 versions of the Waterlilies. In the 1890s, Monet produced a number of paintings done in series. The first series, of the Creuse valley, was shown at a joint exhibition with Rodin at Georges Petit gallery in Paris in 1889 and this was followed by poplars, grainstacks, and views of Rouen Cathedral. Although each work was intended to capture a very specific atmospheric effect and time of day, taken as a whole the group had the effect of universality and timelessness and any references to the contemporary world were carefully suppressed. Nowhere was this deliberate withdrawal into a perfectly constructed rural utopia more apparent than in the Waterlilies decorative cycle (now in the Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris) which preoccupied Monet during the First World War and was technically unfinished at the time of his death in 1926.” Monet saw the beauty of the world around him and lead many of his colleagues to think the same. the water lilies were so influential that France dedicated money home to the public. In 1918 Monet announced plans to donate the decoration to the State, and in 1920 it was decided that the Government would build a pavilion in the grounds of the Hôtel Biron (now the Musée Rodin) in order to provide a permanent installation. five months after Monet’s death, the decoration was opened to the public for the first time. Here the changeable, fragile natural environment of Giverny, created and nurtured by Monet over a period of almost 50 years, is given its synoptic form in paint. The Musée Claude Monet's house and gardens at Giverny, was refurbished and opened to the public in 1981. Monet has shown the world how true to life his paintings really are and many people have seen it for themselves.
Monet had a passion to capture moments forever. Beauty is fleeting unless you can freeze it in time. Monet loved his county of France, he painted so many moments and events in france. A painting that is truly magnificent is Rue Montorgueil, the painting sets a grand tone of excitement. It shows how lively the World's fair was.
”The occasion was a celebration of the World Fair Pairs had been hosting. As can be seen from the painting the streets were decked with flags and banners… Monet’s pride in his country is evident in the overpowering national colors of red, white, and blue. The quick brushstrokes and pulsing colors are all testimony to Monet’s desire to capture quickly the atmosphere the scene.”
In contrast to the world's fair, monet also captured a quiet and calm harbor the piece was “Fishing Boat At Anchor Rouen.”
“There is an overwhelming loneliness to this painting. The stillness that surrounds it adds to the sensation. The lack of movement in the water and on land,and the non-specific time of day, gives it a timeless quality.”
Monet was able to capture another kind of moment, a serene picture that we are all familiar with. The tone is quiet just like it would have been if the boat was floating in a bay by our area. The realistic tone was possible because Monet was feeling all of the feelings he wanted to Portray in the picture. Both pictures are given life due to that fact that the artist was living it as he was painting. It is arguable that The painting capture a near perfect portrait about what life at that very moment was like.
In conclusion Monet showed us how the world really was. He spent countless hours showing how light and perspective changed what is seen. Monet was a pioneer questioning what was traditional and stepping out of the artistic comfort zone by exploring new ideas, he did this through his experimentation and through his in-depth series. It was through his look and multiple paintings of haystacks where he learned that objects color changes through light and weather. The Sunrise showed him how many different colors nature has and not just the colors artist assigned to them. “Lilies Pads” allowed Monet to see the changes that go on in nature and create a narrative using pictures. We may take these simple things for granted but before Monet the world was perceived as a constant with constant colors and shapes. Monet painted the world as it actually was and gave people a new and inventive art style. Monet works where in fact more true to life than traditional paintings.
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