History of Art and Design: Claude Monet

Claude Monet
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/
Claude_Monet_1899_Nadar_crop.jpg]

Claude Monet is one of my favourite artist in the 19th century. His full name was Oscar Claude Monet. Monet was born on 14th November 1840. He was a founder of French impressionist painting and expert in study of people's perception towards nature. [Claude Monet, Wikipedia] One of his famous artwork, the Impression, Sunrise has brought a new painting style to the era which is impressionism.

Water Lilies is a series of around 250 oil paintings by Monet. The paintings captured Monet's flower garden at Giverny and focus mainly on his artistic production in his last thirty years in life. Many of the artworks were painted by Monet while he suffered from difficulties of eyesight, Cataracts.

In the paintings, short and thin brush strokes were used to quickly capture the the essence of the water lilies, and they are not much in details. The paintings are applied with impasto where riots of colours on the paintings can be observed. With all these techniques, the Water Lilies are considered as impressionism style.

By Wong Boon Pin

Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1916
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/5/5d/Monet_Water_Lilies_1916.jpg]

When I was 13, I tried to paint one of the Water Lilies using poster colours. I found it a challenge to imitate the colours in the original painting which are applied freely and randomly. Today I discovered that Monet painted the Water Lilies with colours that he saw from the scene. What he called most of his paintings are "pochade", sketches. He gave the characteristic of impressionist painting in the Water Lilies by applying the techniques, colours and experimetal brush strokes. Although the Water Lilies are not in details, but it accurately shows the light effects of passage of time, created common and ordinary look of the water lilies, simple with many colours. Most importantly, the unusual visual angle of the painting lead a perception and experience to audiences, telling them what the painting is, Water Lilies.

I have found some audio files from the web which are from a promotion of an exhibition of Monet's Water Lilies. It describes the life of Claude Monet and his Water Lilies which are now display in places all over the world. So, check it out!