Monet of course was one of the founders of the impressionists, which subscribed to the doctrine of expressing one's perceptions before nature. The idea that light and the moment could define a color more accurately than the object's 'actual' color is not only genius but revolutionary. You can see the progression from solid people and objects with fairly conservative color in his early work to the famous impressionist style in his later work. He is truly a master and a founder of modern art. Here is a quote from Monet on landscapes:
“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life - the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value.”
-Claude Monet (1841-1895)
Here in Kansas City we have the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, and one of the most valuable pieces in the collection is Monet's Water Lilies (<--click to go to their site and see the painting). To see it up close is truly breathtaking, it's huge (200.03 x 425.45 cm), and gives me an appreciation and understanding of the man's work I did not have before seeing it. (One of the first paintings I saw has a young artist that truly affected me).
It was originally designed to be part of a 12 painting set (3 paintings each on 4 walls of one room) but are now in various parts of the world. How great it would be to collect the works from all the museums they are in and put them into one exhibition, (that travelled to all the museums that had ownership, at least).
It was originally designed to be part of a 12 painting set (3 paintings each on 4 walls of one room) but are now in various parts of the world. How great it would be to collect the works from all the museums they are in and put them into one exhibition, (that travelled to all the museums that had ownership, at least).
Posts
3 comments:
Glad to see someone talking about the Impressionists. I've been a huge fan of those guys (and girls... mustn't forget about Cassatt and Morisot) since my very early years. I think people are naturally drawn to such colorful and weepy compositions, but as they get older (at least with art intellectuals) it isn't simply enough to be beautiful, and they turn away from such simple delights and such universally revered art. But of course, as you pointed out here, impressionism isn't so simple. My favorite is Pissarro - I love his images of peasants, and I also suppose I feel like I'm going slightly against popular opinion because he's the lesser known of the bunch. But who doesn't also adore Monet, Renoir, Degas, and the lot? They're so, so important in art history. Without them we'd never be up to post-post-modern art yet.
I also forgot to say how much I enjoy your artwork... you've got some really beautiful stuff, Ed.
Thanks for reading Chad! and thanks for your kind words about my art. I have definitely reached a stage where I create art that is not 'universally revered'. <-- Laugh Out Loud. I don't usually go for the 'colorful and weepy compositions' has you say and I agree that the artist that develops goes towards more honest expression and not something so 'pretty'. But we both agree that the revolutionary approach to light and color that the impressionists started cannot be ignored. This particular painting by Monet, 'Water Lilies' (the one in KC) is so huge it's amazing,..14 feet long and more than 6 feet tall! I don't even put it in the same category has most impressionist paintings and would love to see the other 11 in the group. One of my other favorites is Seurat, the founder of post-impressionism.
Post a Comment