CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926) – The importance of Monet in the history of art is sometimes “underrated”, as Art lovers tend to see only the overwhelming beauty that emanates from his canvases, ignoring the complex technique and composition of the work (a “defect” somehow caused by Monet himself, when he declared that “I do not understand why everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love”). However, Monet’s experiments, including studies on the changes in an object caused by daylight at different times of the day; and the almost abstract quality of his “water lilies”, are clearly a prologue to the art of the twentieth century.
Claude Monet was a key founding member of the Impressionist circle – in fact one of his paintings, Impression: Sunrise was to the group its name. He was born in Paris, but grew up on the Normandy coast, where he developed an early interest in Landscape painting. His early mentors were Jongkind and Boudin, and the latter encouraged him to paint outdoors rather than in the studio. This was to be the key principles of Impressionism.
While a student in Paris, he met Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley, and together they formulated the basic ideas of the movement. They staged their own shows, holding eight exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. Initially these attracted savage criticism, causing genuine financial hardship to Monet and his friends.
His most distinctive innovation was the “series” of painting. Here, Monet depicted the same subject again and again, at different times of the day or in different seasons. In these pictures, his real aim was not to portray a physical object – whether a row of poplars or the facade of Rouen Cathedral – but to capture the changing light and atmospheric conditions.
Chris Sabian is a portrait artist with http://www.kutefineart.com and co-owner of http://www.paragonprints.co.uk and blogger http://chris-sabian.blogspot.com Follow @paragonprints
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