Day 20: Claude Monet

Portrait by Nadar, 1899

Claude Monet (1840-1926) may be mostly known for his water lilies paintings, but he also had a huge part in defining the Impressionist movement. It was his painting Impression, Sunrise (1872) that the term was first given to that particular style of painting. With its broad brushstrokes and colors, it was considered incomplete and thought to be better as a layer for wallpaper rather than art. Monet embraced this insult, as did the other Impressionist painters.  

He painted en plein air (outdoors) so he could capture the light as it changed. Painters before him would sketch outside but return to their studios to paint the final pieces. Impressionists painted outside because the light was one of the most important elements in painting. It was rare that Impressionists used the color black; they would often mix colors directly on the canvas. Monet said, "When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever…merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives you your own naive impression of the scene before you." 

Impression, Sunrise, 1872

Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875

Rue Montorgueil, 1878

Poplars (Autumn), 1891

Water-Lilies, 1907

Weeping Willow, 1918-19