Art History- Claude Monet

September 24, 2019

Claude Monet

One of Claude Monet's most famous works is called Impression, Sunrise, it depicts the port of Le Havre, Monet's hometown. Impression Sunrise was first shown at what would be known as the "Exhibition of the Impressionists" in Paris in April 1874.

Monet would use pale grey, light yellow, or white canvases, and then paint with very opaque colors. Studies show that Monet would use colors straight from the tube, and he would mix them on the canvas. He used thin layers of paint allowing other layers of color to come through. He mostly worked with oil paints and liked to do scene paintings.

Monet mostly worked on his own as a painter and moved around from Argenteuil, a village on the seine near Paris. There he painted some of his best works including Impression sunrise. He then moved to Holland and then back to Argenteuil.

Monet's most productive period was during the impressionist period, this period was around 1860. The impressionist period is characterized by small thin, yet visible brush strokes, emphasis on the depiction of light in its changing qualities, showing the effects of time passing, as well as the inclusion of movement.

Oscar-Claude Monet was depressed most of his life, he spent several years in financial difficulty due to being refused by his father during his greatest moment of need. Monet tried to drown himself in the Seine river and destroyed an estimated five hundred works because of his bouts of frustration and self-doubt.

The piece by Monet that inspired my project is called San Gorgio Maggiore at Dusk. San Gorgio was painted somewhere in 1908 to 1912 but experts don't know exactly what year it was painted in. Claude use Oil paint to create this masterpiece and used a white canvas.