Claude Monet Painting The Regatta at Sainte-Adresse - Research Paper Example

Number] Claude Monet Painting The Regatta at Sainte-Adresse Introduction: The Regatta is a painting by Claude Monet at Sainte-Adresse. It is conceived as a pair with The Beach at Sainte-Adresse, the Art Institute of Chicago. The two paintings have the same size and the point of view taken differs only by a few yards. The suburb area of Le Havre, Sainte-Adresse was Monet’s father’s home. Monet had no money and he spent the 1867 summer with his father and aunt, the same year he painted the Regatta. Monet had abandoned his companion and son whose birth he attended in Paris and then returned back to Sainte-Adresse. This paper tells about this painting significance, the biography of Monet, the style and era of the painting, and the discussion of the humanities theme of the painting. Biography of the author: Claude Monet was a French painter who was an important part of the impressionist movement transforming the French painting in the late nineteenth century. He served long as a painter and his paintings usually portrayed leisure activities and landscapes of Paris as well as other surrounding areas. Monet contributed to the modernism that emerged in the twentieth century by his unique style of capturing the act of perceiving nature on his canvas. Monet was raised in Normandy and Eugene Boudin introduced him to painting. He joined Charles Gleyre’s Paris studio where he was the academic history painter; Monet was twenty-two at that time and he studied with other painters who became impressionists later. He got limited success in his early career and had just a few landscapes, portraits, and seascapes which were accepted at the annual Salons for exhibition in 1860s. He faced rejection and a lot of criticism that he took as a motivation to move forward (Monet 49). The subjects for Monet’s paintings were found in his surroundings such as people and places that he knew the best. His models were his first and second wife frequently. The landscapes he painted were the north of France to London which covered his journeys of moving. He often painted his home gardens and gathering places. His paintings had a unique objective that would always catch the eye such as signs of domestic relations. Monet followed the path of the Barbizon painters and adopted their commitment towards naturalistic representation and close observation. He extended that commitment and created his own style which included painting on large-scale canvases outdoors then completing the work in studio. He captured nature accurately and rejected the European conventions that governed composition, perspective, and colour. He enhances his work using vibrant brightness and unmediated colours; he adds a variety of colour tones for shadows and for traditional landscapes he uses light coloured primers (Monet 49). One of the most famous works of Monet was the series of paintings that he created in the 1890s. These were a series of paintings in which he painted a site again and again to record its changing appearance with the times of the day. In this process, the painting of light and shadow was the most challenging part for which he rented a room where there were multiple canvases so he could paint as the light shifted. His last painting series of the water-lily is still placed in Orangerie in Paris (Monet 49). Description of the work: Regatta at Sainte-Adresse was completed in 1867. The painting’s dimensions were 75.2×101.6 cm and the medium was oil on canvas. It was the time of summer when he was entering the phase which was later known as Impressionism. However, at this time he had not developed the unique style that he was famous for. This and Garden at Sainte-Adresse were two paintings which contained many elements that were specific to the early works of Monet and showed the influences of different painters on his work. His influences can be clearly seen in these two paintings and their subject matters. His early works concentrated on figure of two kinds; fashion and mood of relaxation. In Regatta, Monet has used the figures as decorative and framing elements. In Garden, these figures played a different role and significantly became the painting’s main subject instead of the landscape (Tinterow 432). In accordance to the subject matter of the Regatta, it is evident that it shows a growing interest that Monet had in water. It was the most important subject of the Regatta in which it is displayed as a plastic-like quality. The water in Monet’s work is reminiscent in its shimmering and breakdown into colours, the shapes of the falling light, and the use of smooth greenish and turquoise colours (Gedzelman 14). Stylistically, the surface of the Regatta is a flat paint application like plastic. There are solid colours used and the emphasis on shape makes it so natural that the bottom left corner is the only place in the painting where there are evident brush stipples of Monet’s name. The green colour dabbed to show the water is too organized and is similar to many works of his later works. However, it can be seen that Monet has not used his unique style of colour in this painting. An example is the sky which is portrayed brightly unlike the art of that time. In this painting, he has used fewer colours as the water portrays the impression of two colours only. In his later work he had used many colours through mixing. As this was one of his early works, it seemed different to the later works. In the later paintings, he used many colours for just the simplest depictions and repeated the colours (Tinterow 432). Discussion of era/style in which it was produced: Monet was an Impressionist painter who began the Impressionist movement in the 19th century along with his peers. He used to paint outdoor scenes using unique techniques which later became known as Impressionism. His paintings were a sort of rebellion against the familiar and popular techniques of that time. The popular techniques included painting in door portraits, still-life, and landscapes from a studio (Gedzelman 14). Monet and his peer impressionists believed in capturing the nature and landscape moments outdoor by painting in open air. The style of impressionists at the time when this painting was made was to pay lesser attention on the details of the painting such as lines and contours and rather focus on the whole picture. The painters focused on the whole picture and instead of shading or blending, used the technique of broken brush strokes with contrast. Monet gave this style and work the name of ‘impression, soleil levant’ after which the critic Louis Leroy called it ‘Impressionism’ (Tinterow 432). The time in which Monet painted the Regatta was when he returned to Sainte-Adresse in 1867 summers to visit his aunt. The reality was that he fled to his father and aunt because of poverty and was given shelter on the condition that he would leave his mistress and son. Monet was highly stressed during this time but that was never evident in his paintings. In the Regatta, there are a few nicely dressed men sitting on the sand looking at the relatively elitist and new sport, yacht racing. The picture shows a pleasant view of the sea with only a small hint about the emotional state of mind that Monet was in. There are very small boats down the shoreline with brown sails. These are the fishing boats which seem to be inelegant but they have been there for much longer and have rights to sail these waters. There are also comparisons of the wealthy tourists and the local residents which are evident to the viewer (Tinterow 432). Discussion of the humanities theme: There are many stylistic qualities and techniques that this painting has. However, there is also a distinctively humanities theme which makes the painting human. This theme refers to the emotion of Monet, the value, and the idea behind the painting. The painting has personal values as well as emotional for the painter itself and for the viewer it has an idea or message which refers to the era in which it was painted as it entered modernity. The first emotional theme that can be seen in the painting making it human is the reflection of Monet’s personal relations. The representation of figures in the paintings shows the similarities of Monet’s relatives. The costumes of these people suggest them to be related to Monet most specifically his father who is most surely presumed as the man standing on the shore. His personal life was at a stage where he suffered financial difficulties and moved with his family. Thus, these emotional variations are seen in the painting and have contributed in the changing style which was later known as Impressionism. This painting marked the turning point of his outlook and style (Monet 49). There was another major idea or subject matter of the painting which dealt with modernity. Monet was very interested in the modernism when he began his career but then nature became the main focus of all work later. His paintings showed many aspects which related to modernism starting from the fish boats, to the fashion figures and the new and old men shown. Almost all the early works of Monet’s career included modernity in some way or the other. His paintings often showed tourists, boats, or houses which were signs of civilisation (Gedzelman 14). Even when this painting is observed by the natural aspect, it reflects modernity. The painting shows more of nature but the kind of nature is rather organized, modern, and controlled. The sea is shown with different techniques but along with that there are boats on the horizon. The water in the pictures is seemingly flat which shows the effect of the floating boats on the water. This makes the boats more significant than the water despite being small. The sky is also painted accurately with atmospheric and natural description which was eluded in the later work and interest of Monet in atmospheric effects. The weather which he has painted is comfortable and relaxing as the figures are seemingly pleased. These figures also tend to control the weather according to their vacationing needs. The sky is a decoration which is perfectly covered with clouds just as the tourists would want to see on the French coast. It was after this painting that nature was perceived as wild, chaotic, and more abstract (Gedzelman 14). When Monet first created this painting, he did not intend to include the fishermen in the foreground. Through research using X-rays and infrared, it was found that before painting the scene, Monet had included well dressed tourists on the shoreline and at the right of the water he included many white-sailed pleasure boats. He later replaced those people belonging to the leisure class with fishermen and their boats on the water. Monet had rather complicated his work and he seemed to have done it on purpose to portray the complex physical and social transformations which were majorly taking place at that time in Sainte-Adresse. According to Christopher Heinrich, Monet had the biggest role in introducing the outdoor paintings. He was the first to take his canvas outside and paint the scenery before bringing it in the studio for completion (Heinrich 29). When painters had to paint nature, they would usually go out and draw merely pencil sketches which they completed in doors. Despite the difficulty in painting outdoors, Monet shifted his studio outside and it became easier due to the invention of oil paints which easier to mix outdoors. Painting outdoors was still a very difficult and complicated job. He painted in both summers and winters with a large parasol in summers to avoid the winds and in winters he would wear boots and woollens (Heinrich 29). Heinrich wrote that Monet was the type of painter who would work with nature taking a close approach (Heinrich 29). He painted the nature as he perceived it and observed it with the natural elements. He captured nature exactly how it appeared to be yet it was inspiring the way he gave out a message through his painting. He would use his unique techniques of colour and imaginations of mind to create the painting which was a masterpiece. He turned away from the typical approach and brought in his painting what was more like the real life image in response to what he purely saw. Heinrich also writes that the scenes presented in the Regatta were a part of the early leisure industry which enabled the city dwellers to utilize what the nature made available for them (Heinrich 29). I agree with Heinrich’s theme that Monet used a combination of his imagination and techniques to create a painting which was a turning point in his career as well as in the Impressionist painting. He created the painting in which he presented the essence of the leisure industry which he observed around him. Mary Gedo has talked about Monet’s painting the Regatta in the book Monet and His Muse: Camille Monet in the Artist’s Life saying that his painting showed the bold character of Monet as it was daring the way he created it (Gedo 69). He had painted the harbour with people on the seaside along with little snails covered everywhere. The painting depicted a bunch of people who were locals and visitors watching the yacht race. Since the beach occupies more than half of the place in the painting, the sea and snails have the dominance. The figures that he has presented are small and tiny where the viewer is only able to distinguish the tourists from the working-class fisherman (Gedo 69). The only feature prominent in this painting is the figures which are on the seashore, the relatives of Monet. According to Gedo, Monet has portrayed himself in the painting as the obedient and underscored son that he had been playing the whole summer with his father and aunt. He had been trying to impress the models with his art and intelligence. The men in the picture consisted of those who had everything of the leisure life and those who had to work hard to achieve that life. These figures have a link with the idea of modernism as well as the emotional state of mind that Monet had (Gedo 69). I agree with Gedo as Monet had many emotional aspects and figures which were portrayed in this painting and were related to his own life. Through his intelligence and imagination he was able to create an impactful painting which gave viewers several messages and ideas not only about his personal life but about modernism and nature as it transformed. Conclusion: However, this painting has portrayed many humanities themes which make it distinctly human. This painting reflects the era in which modernism was evolving and there was a turning point in the French painting later known as Impressionism. The painting has many themes which can be understood by the viewer as he takes them. Many scholars have talked about the work and analyzed it using the information about Monet and the techniques of that time. Work Cited Gedo, Mary. Monet and His Muse: Camille Monet in the Artist’s Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Print. Gedzelman, Stanley. The Sky in Art. London: Taylor & Francis, 1992. Print. Heinrich, Christoph. Monet. Germany: Taschen, 2000. Print. Monet, Claude. The masterworks of Monet. NY: Sweetwater Press, 1997. Print. Tinterow, Gary. Origins of Impressionism. New York, NJ: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. Print. Read More