Claude-Oscar Monet (1849-1926) was a French painter most well known for his role in the Impressionist movement. Impressionism began in France in the late 19th century. Techniques utilize bright colors, broad and unfinished like brush strokes to highlight the essence of the subject rather than a clear detailed representation of it.
As photography was gaining popularity at the time, the ability to capture a moment or a fleeting landscape became the purpose of Impressionist. Throughout his life, Monet’s work held strongly to Impressionist ideals. He was a committed outdoor painter whose series of works can single a subject but still show the variety of lighting and atmosphere based on the time of the day.
Monet was most well known for his landscape paintings, although he did some cityscapes, real-life paintings and limited portrait work. His most well known series are his Water Lilies series (1896-1920) painted from his garden in Giverny (north of Paris) and feature over 200 oil paintings. Monet had spent years tending to his garden in Giverny and had to obtain permits in order to create his small water lily pond. His garden hosted a wide variety of vegetables, flowers and trees from all over the world. Creating a focused series on one subject allowed him to experiment with different lightings and colors as well as different views of the same subject. Monet dedicated the last 20 years of his life creating paintings for his Water Lilies series.
Other famous works of his include The Cliffs at Étretat (1885) which is a part of his series of paintings based at the Normandy coast. Woman with a Parasol—Madame Monet and Her Son (1875) was also well received as it was one of his few portraits. The painting is of his wife Camille Monet and their son Jean Monet.
In all of Monet’s work, his style and technique are strongly influenced by Impressionism. Monet’s technique includes light brushstrokes and undiluted color brings a brightness to his work, clearly seen in the grassy or water scenes of his work. This fast and spontaneous technique enables him to work at speed so that he can capture the light of the scene as is before the moment passes. Instead of mixing colors together, using undiluted colors and placing them next to each other makes the color appear more brilliant to the viewer. This theory is a color theory technique that even Georges Seurat used in his Pointillism work.
Impressionism is a very interesting era of art. It proves that precise details are not necessary but general strokes of color can capture the moment just as well. Impressionism is a very lighthearted and quick technique with bright colors and a focus on lighting. Monet’s work has had such an important influence on this art movement that he is crowned the Father of Impressionism.
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