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Essay on Claude Monet
Claude Monet is most definitely my favorite Painter of all time. Widely considered the foremost Impressionist painter, Monet inspired Masters like Degas and Renoir. Monet’s paintings, characterized by their blurred lines, quick brush strokes and interpretation of light, capture the essence of the subject without the harsh realism of previous centuries.
I will examine the three paintings that caught my attention the most. Each is a testimony to the individual style of Monet. The first I looked at was “The Waterloo Bridge: Grey Day” painted in 1903. When I first walked into the room and looked at this painting all I saw was gray. That is what the painting is, Grey. It is a landscape of a suburban bridge (The Waterloo Bridge, France) with a city in the background. The true brilliance of the painting is that for highlights and low lights Monet did not use grays or browns, typical for showing a foggy day. Instead, he used Pinks, lavenders and a brilliant scarlet to represent the traffic crossing the bridge.
The subtle colors combined with the quick and graceful brush strokes capture the feeling of a cloudy day. I can imagine people crossing the bridge encountering the mist of the cloud, looking behind them and seeing the outlines of the factories. Monet does not use clear lines to define the physical landmarks. But on a cloudy day, who can see clear definition anyway. It is more about the hints of what is behind the gray. It is amazing to see a picture transform when you get closer and inspect what is so small that it cannot be seen without truly contemplating what is being represented.
After “The Waterloo Bridge: Grey day” I will move on to “Palazzo de Mule Venice” painted in 1908. This is a truly amazing piece. All definition between the water and the building is gone....
