Claude Monet - Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool - Research Paper Example

Claude Monet: Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool Technology in the beginning of the nineteenth century was beginning to make significant differences in the lifestyles and abilities of the people over those of their parents. Changes in technology led to the development of the factories and helped boost the already rising middle class. For perhaps the first time in history, there was a clear division between time to work and what was quickly defined as ‘leisure time.’ At the same time, modern inventions such as the camera enabled anyone with the proper equipment to capture the idyllic scenes of middle class leisure activities without the use of canvas, paint or a talented image maker. While this was considered an improvement in terms of capturing images of family, friends and scenes that would be lost, it was also a blow to the art world, who saw their livelihood threatened as even the most realistic painting could not capture the immediacy and accuracy of the photograph. In response to this, many painters began developing new concepts of aesthetics based upon the emotional content of the image rather than simply the realistic representation of it. As might be expected, these new definitions took a variety of directions, but one of the most popular was that taken by artist Claude Monet (1840-1926). Throughout his long artistic life, Monet brought the ideas of impressionism to the forefront of the artistic world. He remains recognized today for his masterful use of color and light as well as his unique way of depicting the scenes that were important to him. The ideas he brought forward can be discovered in his mature painting “Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool.” This oil on canvas painting measuring 35 1/8 x 36 3/4 inches was created in 1899 in Monet’s garden at Giverny and is currently housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The subject matter of the painting is a simple scene in Monet’s garden of his famous lily pond at a point where it is spanned by a Japanese footbridge, hence the title of the work. Created during his final artistic period, the painting represents a mature example of the artist’s work and ideas. It was created in the Impressionist style using the en plein air technique. Monet’s introduction to plein-air painting was through Eugène Boudin (Auricchio, 2004). It was a technique brought forward by the earlier Barbizon School of painters who typically created strong sketches of what they saw outside and then brought these to the studio to paint (Amory, 2009), but Monet altered this by bringing his entire canvas outside and painting directly from nature. His ideas were also heavily influenced by the Japanese block printing techniques that had become popular and which reduced the image to its more basic elements (Gombrich, 1995). Impressionism was quickly criticized at its introduction because of its ‘unfinished’ appearance. Critics complained “of its loose handling and indistinct forms” (Auricchio, 2004). However, this was the entire focus of the impressionist approach. Monet’s primary focus was to capture this scene of nature more accurately in terms of light, color and his personal emotional reaction to the vision. This practice prompted him to reject European conventions governing composition, color, and perspective in search of a deeper expression of the image and its associated connection with man. Artists since the beginning of time have had difficulty defining just what it is that they ‘see’ as opposed to what they ‘know’. These ideas become complicated with the increasing knowledge of psychology and science. Burchill (1966) points out it was during this period in history that the harnessing of electricity made communication across long distances possible through the telegraph, long hours possible through the safe and inexpensive provision of light after dark and new machines available for many different purposes. These inventions continued to introduce an entirely new way of living life that could be fully divorced from the natural world. “The impact of these discoveries lay a quarter of a century in the future, but all the foundations of twentieth century science and technology were laid in the Age of Progress” (Burchill, 1966). These advances caused a natural questioning spirit to determine just what was considered to be ‘real.’ “It happens that we make mistakes in seeing … as soon as we start to take a pencil and draw, the whole idea of surrendering passively to what is called our sense impressions become really an absurdity. If we look out of the window we can see the view in a thousand different ways” (Gombrich, 1995). Impressionism attempted to capture what was felt in response to the scene rather than the merely visual look. Schwabe defines the attitude of Impressionism as “one of passivity before nature, of which attitude van Gogh, through all his febrile intensity, is found to be the final and highest development” (1918). While the Impressionist painters did not focus all of their attention on scenes of nature alone, the primary focus of their art was in capturing the emotional impressions of the moment as it is externally presented to the artist/viewer. In doing this, the Impressionist artists managed to realize, at about the same time that photography was proving them correct, that we don’t see every detail in the scenes that confront us, but instead manage to get an impression of the view through the basic shapes, colors and play of light that catch at the edge of our vision as they are informed by the few elements we may happen to focus upon (Gombrich, 1995). In “Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pond,” Monet illustrates many of these ideas as he tries to depict the healing spirit of the location. The composition is dominated by the span of the bridge extending across the horizontal center line. The background is filled with wispy green trees and reeds surrounding the pond while the foreground and midground is filled with the suggestion of lily pads, some of which are topped by ill-defined white water lilies creating a horizontally symmetrical balance. Between the lilies, Monet created watery reflections to illustrate the surface of the pond. These reflections are predominantly expressed in red tones in keeping with his studies of shadows and their tendencies to be made up of the colors present in afterimages. This somewhat breaks up the monochromatic harmonies he employed in the palette for this painting. In keeping with the concepts of Impressionism, Monet carefully avoids heavy emphasis of perspective lines, purposely flattening the image. The only indication of space achieved within the picture plane is accomplished through the lines denoting the shores of the pond itself, which may or may not be intended to designate space. This depth is enhanced by the implied positioning of the bridge as marked in the pond by a line of exposed water where the water lilies don’t grow. None of the images seen in the image area are clearly depicted. Thus, the petals of the water lilies in the foreground are essentially just as indistinct as the leaves of the trees in the background. This, too, is intentional as Monet’s intention was to portray a sense of the pond as a whole entity rather than have his viewers focusing on a single element. Only in that way would they be encouraged to reflect more upon their own reaction to the pond rather than the visual details the pond had to offer. The impression Monet conveys in this painting of the healing power of the pond’s peace is accomplished through his careful use of color palette and his painting technique. His use of dominant greens not only represents the true colors of the natural world but introduces an additional option for interpretation. Although typically considered a cool color, green is one of the few colors that can hop over to the warm side of the color wheel. Monet includes both scales in his use of deep blue-greens to depict shadows and some trees, yet warms these greens by adding strongly yellow tints in addressing the water lilies themselves and balances them against other trees. Thus it is primarily through intensity and hue of the specific paints applied that Monet achieves an image that is invigorating and relaxing, peaceful and active. This sensation is augmented by the strongly warm tones of red that he incorporates into the water reflections but would have set the painting off-balance had he not warmed some of the green tones. The ability to suggest the trees and lilies without a great deal of detail was accomplished through the artist’s technical skill in working with his medium. The actual texture of the painting’s surface betrays some of this technique demonstrating Monet’s tendency to mix colors on the canvas as he worked, as is evident in some of the shadow areas and his application of lighter colors later. Effects in the trees are created with multiple short strokes of solid and mixed color while reflections in the water are made with longer, thinner strokes over darker paint. The overall effect of Monet’s painting is an image of remarkable peacefulness that gives the viewer a calming sense of active healing. Growth is everywhere in the image, emphasized by the external light of the display area bouncing off of the details evident in the brushwork of the artist in creating these depictions. Energy is conveyed through his judicious use of warm tones in his color palette but these are not permitted to overwhelm the cool tones used in the shadows. To bring forward his conception of the importance of a man’s connection to nature, Monet chose his subject matter carefully, using the bridge as a symbol for the various ideas inherent in the movement. While elements of the painting are recognizable, such as the water lilies and the bridge, these are not depicted with the kind of slavish dedication to visual realism that had been popular in the past. Instead they were suggestions of these elements, providing the viewer with the sense that they were glimpsing something deeper, a more spiritual illustration of these elements that could only be identified when one abandoned their dependence on sight to experience the scene through other senses, perhaps some that yet remain unnamed. This idea that there was something expressed in certain areas that could not be fully expressed in the form of words or solid imagery was at the heart of Impressionism and has been at the heart of modernism ever since. Works Cited Amory, Dita. “The Barbizon School: French Painters of Nature.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. (2009). Auricchio, Laura. “Claude Monet (1840-1926).” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2004). Burchell, S.C. “The Blessings of Science.” Age of Progress. Great Ages of Man: A History of the World’s Cultures. New York: Time-Life Books, 1966: 28-47. Gombrich, E.H. “Experimental Art.” The Story of Art. London: Phaidon, 1995: 557-598. Schwabe, Randolph. “Expressionism.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs. Vol. 33, N. 187, (Oct. 1918): 140-141. Read More