Impressionism In Claude Monet

The Impressionist movement emerged in the late nineteenth century France initiated by a group of artists who defied conventional artistic standards and who were harshly criticized by the Academie des Beaux-Arts which was considered the authority in the realist styles of French painting of the period. Among them was Claude Monet (1840-1926) one of the most influential of the Impressionists. The Impressionist artistic style was cultivated and influenced by its predecessors. Impressionism combined the Romantic use of color and Realism’s sense of everyday life subject matter in addition to techniques of chiaroscuro and adopting the practice of painting in the outdoors (en plein air, “in the open air”) to capture the effects of natural light

I was just telling myself that since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it; and what freedom? What ease of workmanship? Why, wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that landscape” (L42). Works of similar style were naturally referred to as Impressionistic thereafter, although the word itself does not represent any of its characteristics. Monet demonstrates the aspects of Impressionism in his works entitled Water Lilies (1906). This is a beautiful series of paintings illustrating his lily garden at Giverny, which he painted at times from the water’s shoreline and other times from a small rowboat in the pond amidst the lilies themselves. There are no bank definitions of the water’s edge or an actual sky, which is only shown, reflected in the water. His color scheme of blues, lavenders and greens comprise delicate patches of color, giving form to the flowers and leaves that float on the water without definitive lines. The source of daylight illuminates, but does not designate its origin; it encompasses the entire composition indicating non-specific daylight hours. Additionally, the horizon line is not apparent and the foliage is blended into the water, by complimenting colors, creating a dreamlike image without borders, which makes the scene seem continuous beyond the painting