Impressionism at a Glance
Claude Monet is considered one of the great Impressionists, and the specific approach to painting developed in his native France in the latter half of the 19th century. The style draws its inspiration from the overall impression of a scene created by the interplay of light and color, attempting to create a record of a stunningly transient visual reality.
The impressionists abandoned the traditional ideas about shadow and highlights, seeking to increase the vitality and richness of each. For example, instead of mixing orange and brown or black to paint the shadowed part of an orange, an impressionist might add dark blue strokes. Still life paintings were relatively rare among the impressionists, who sought mainly to capture a fleeting moment in the particular atmosphere of a foggy morning on the harbor or an afternoon garden party, but they were used to studying the effects of light and changes of light on different objects. More often, impressionist painters worked en plein air, or outdoors to observe the effects of changing weather, light and movement. To capture what they observed, they used quick, short brush-strokes that overlapped and were left un-smoothed, to create a textured look. Work was done as quickly as possible, so as not to lose the moment, but it was common for a painter to return to the same spot later, when conditions were as close as possible to the original, in order to complete the work.
Despite enduring heavy criticism in its earlier years by those who felt that impressionistic paintings were unfinished, too textured and chaotic, impressionism soon became the standard for painting ‘truth’ and changed the face of art and art education across oceans. The goal for many became to find a place with distinctive light and to capture that light, that moment in time, rather than that place or person. The focus of realism on concreteness and definition gave way to an airy, vibrant style that can appear as if it’s in motion on the canvas. Impressionism left another legacy: it embraced and thrived from scientific research into light and color and vision, which in turn spurred the development of photography as an artistic medium.
Impressions: Soleil Levant (Sunrise).
The French term “impressioniste” was first printed in 1874, based on this work by Claude Monet. As one of his earlier paintings, it was done before he eliminated black from his palette. Impressionist was often use derisively in the beginning, as in “a painter of mere impressions.” Coming out of the age of Realism, the Impressionists were seen by many to be painters who couldn’t even produce a well-planned and polished painting. They were shunned for their ‘dabs’ of paint and clumsy brush strokes. 150 years later Monet, Degas, Cezanne, Manet, Van Gogh and Renoir are known and respected the world over for their vision and skill in making the world come alive and for capturing the most transitory of moments.
Monet’s Approach
Monet, though his paintings are the epitome of impressionism, used very different methods than others to perfect his art. His work is the synthesis of the fleeting moment and absolute truth. Instead of painting quickly and spontaneously, he spent long hours observing. Then he would sketch the most important elements of his painting before putting brush to canvas. After the sketch, Monet covered the entire canvas in roughly an hour, later adding new and different brush-strokes, smudging them and strengthening lines. He often would finish his paintings at his studio, revisiting the site and adding touches of light and color. Though Monet’s paintings are incredibly thick, he did not paint in layers — rather, he used systematic touches of paint based on his belief that nature does not contain black and white or straight lines.
He also did studies of scenes, in which he painted the same scene many times over in different light and weather conditions to capture the essence of the place in every respect. In painting the Rouen Cathedral series, he rented a room across from the cathedral and kept multiple canvasses going, switching between them with the shifting light. Haystacks, Water-Lily Pond and Poplars are other series or studies.
During Monet’s time there were newly-developed theories of how sight and the eyes work. Scientists were beginning to figure out that light was the key component of vision. Monet was a huge proponent of trusting in your vision and the idea that what your eyes see is not form, but light operating on form. It was this idea that fueled his rejection of realism and his adaptation and adoption of an entirely new form of artwork that seeks not a congregation of forms as its vehicle, but an interplay of light and color.
Art & Vision
Dr. Michael Marmor of Stanford University, an ophthalmologist with an interest artwork, notes what appear to be stylistic differences in some of Monet’s paintings. In 1923 Monet underwent cataract surgery. Having cataracts can drastically affect your ability to see color, limiting especially blues and purples and adding a generally brownish shade to your perceived world. This is exactly what occurs in some of Monet’s later but pre-operation paintings. His characteristically vibrant colors are muddied. After his surgery, Monet returned to his earlier style and even went back and adjusted the colors on some of the work he’d done while he had cataracts.
References for Further Exploration
Impressionism: The Innovations and Influence
MoMA - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, an essay and slideshow on Impressionism
MoMA - An essay and slideshow on Claude Monet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Artcyclopedia‘s list of where you can view works of art by Claude Monet
National Gallery of Art has several of Monet’s paintings available for viewing online
WebMuseum‘s overview of Impressionism
Artquotes offers a concise but thorough overview of Monet’s life.
Explore Drawing and Painting - mixing and painting techniques used by Monet
The Colors of Monet - an explanation of the palette the Monet used
Monet’s Works - presented thematically and chronologically
