Claude Monet: The Impressionist - Research Paper Example

Claude Monet: The Impressionist One of the most well-known artistic geniuses in the history of arts was born in Paris, Claude Oscar Monet. His family moved to a coastal area in northern France, Le Havre, and the rocky shoreline and the big, blue ocean of the area had a huge influence on him throughout his childhood. As a teenager, he was taught at the College du Havre and was mentored by a professor inspired by the Neo-Classical movement. Highly imaginative, adventurous, and creative from a young age, he painted caricatures and put them on sale. A very important event happened in 1856 when Monet met Eugene Boudin, a landscape artist widely known for his paintings of the shoreline communities of northern France. Boudin introduced to him the plen air method, which transformed Monet’s view of the act of painting: “It was as if a veil was torn from my eyes; I had understood. I grasped what painting could be.” To break free from the Franco-Prussian War, Monet went to London in 1870, creating numerous paintings like the Westminster Bridge. He went to the museums and was inspired by the romantic naturalist paintings of J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. Most essentially, he came upon an owner of a new modern art gallery, Paul Durand-Ruel, who became an important follower of Pissarro and Monet, and eventually other supporters of French Impressionism. Monet was less interested in the stylishness or modernity in his paintings and more in setting, environment and atmosphere. It was during this time that he came up with the kind of paintings for which he is possibly most popular. His succession of grainstacks gained expert recognition from the public, art enthusiasts, and critics. Finally, Monet favored isolation with the natural world, making his paintings instead of taking part in critical or theoretical discussions within Paris’s cultural and artistic landscape. The main inspiration of Monet for the final period of his life was the property at Giverny. Focusing on the fishpond itself, his full artworks let the audience feel as though they were near or even inside the water enclosed by the vegetation. He carried on with his water paintings until his death. Sources for Monet’s Art Claude Monet, who is a French Impressionist artist, was mostly influenced by the natural world. All his works centered on outdoor sceneries. His painting technique focused not on realism, but on form and light, which resulted in the idea of Impressionism. Monet was one of the most well-known and admired Impressionist painters, and he was the pioneer of the movement. He used most of his time looking for places all over France to use as subject matters or themes for his artworks. His first paintings were usually aquatic or oceanic images with the Seine waters, boats, or windy shores. His later artworks were inspired by the impact of light on sceneries, and he studied these effects in a sequence of art depictions of haystacks. Later on, he was influenced by the busy life in the city, train stations, and newly designed bridges, as well as modern-day technology and urban landscapes. Until his death, he created important paintings that mostly showcased outdoor sights and sceneries. The early work of Monet is largely inspired by Realism’s focus on portraying modern-day theme, without romanticism or idealism, and in artistically depicting outdoors so as to portray the temporary aspects of the natural world. Influenced to a certain extent by Edouard Manet, Monet slowly started to create a unique technique of his own in the latter part of the 19th century. He abandoned the strong illustration of linear angles and forms, which were supported by the dominant art of the period, and he tried clearly unique compositions, daring color, and free handling. The focus in his paintings moved from concrete images to the aspects of light and the ambiance in the setting, and, as Monet aged and developed, he became more and more interested in color and light. Eventually, he became more and more focused on the enhancing or ornate aspects of form and color. Monet started to use paint in moderate strokes, developing it into wide ranges of color, and, in the latter part of the 19th century, he started to examine the likelihoods of an ornamental paint exterior and consistencies, and differences of color. The impact that he attained, especially in the sequence of artworks in the 1890s, mark a significant progress toward abstraction or conceptualization and toward a modern painting revolving entirely around surface effects. A pioneer and inspiration among Impressionist artists, he was very important in persuading Camille Pissarro, Edouard Manet, Alfred Sisley, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir to team up in the Parisian area of Argenteuil in the late 19th century. Monet was also vital in the establishment of the exhibition group that would display the artworks of the group from 1874 to 1886. Monet and the other Impressionist artists were inspired by Realist artists Edouard Manet and Gustave Courbet. Monet built a strong relationship with these two painters—Manet’s solid emphasis on color predicted the intricate composition of the Impressionist painting and Courbet’s thick and solid composition of paint. The Nature of His Stylistic Development After becoming part of the military in Algeria from 1860 to 1862, he enrolled in painting classes in Paris in spite of oppositions from his parents. His acquaintances were the future key Impressionist artists, Sisley, Renoir, Cezanne, and Pissaro. The word ‘Impressionism’ was taken from the painting of Monet Impression: Sunrise in 1872. Amazed by the effects of light, he started in 1889 to depict chains of themes, like the Rouen Cathedral, at various moments of the day. His final fascinating sequence was images of water lilies. In the late 19th century, the world was witnessing numerous changes. Cities were developing and expanding, and life was transforming into modernity. Several artists sensed the importance of adjusting with these changes. Monet belongs to these artists. He adopted plen air painting and revolutionized the landscape or scenery style and form. Monet held an idea, which resulted in the development of Impressionism, which is a modern-day art movement. Impressionist painters wanted to illustrate how objects spontaneously look like. In order to accomplish this, they had to paint using drops or strokes of primary colors. They also focused on the way light bounced off of the images. Through this, Impressionist artists longed to paint instances or moments in their artworks. Audiences did not instantly embrace Impressionism. Yet, despite of criticisms, Monet continued painting in his own way or own style and technique. Due to this, he frequently had a difficult time selling his work. This is due to the fact that it challenged what people would embrace in artistic works. Sooner or later, people accepted his art. And at present, displays of his paintings attract groups of enthusiasts. Works Cited Augusta, Holly. “Monet: Master Gardener, Impressionist Painter, and Scientist of the Visual,” Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 2.4 (1996): 6A. Print. Clark, T.J. The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and His Followers. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015. Print. Heinrich, Christoph. Monet. New York: Taschen, 2000. Print. Kalitina, Nina and Nathalia Brodskaya. Claude Monet. New York: Parkstone International, 2012. Print. Klein, Adam. Claude Monet. New York: ABDO, 2010. Print. Monet, Claude. Monet’s Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism. New York: Metropolitan Museum Art, 1978. Print. Monet, Claude et al. Monet in Normandy. New York: Rizzoli, 2006. Print. Temkin, Ann and Nora Lawrence. Claude Monet: Water Lilies. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2009. Print. Read More