Showing posts with label Claude Monet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Claude Monet. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Art Review: The Impressions of Venice at Dusk by Claude Monet



If you seek a spectacular sunset reenacted on canvas you shouldn’t miss Venice at Dusk or San Giorgio Maggiore al Crepuscolo painted by French Impressionist Claude Monet. The work was finished in 1908 with 37 others in the ancient city of Venice Italy.  Monet did not feel that his paintings were that great and had significant self-doubt about is work but they nevertheless became well known. 

He wrote to an art seller about that doubt ,"Although I am enthusiastic about Venice, and though I've started a few canvases, I'm afraid I will only bring back beginnings that will be nothing else but souvenirs for me" (1).

Despite his yearnings to quit Monet continued to paint each and every day completing a number of great masterpieces. His works are known for their simplicity and eloquence that many other painters seem to forget in forging their works. 

The painting is of a sunset behind San Giorgio Maggiore the sanctuary and monastery (2). Colors are vibrant yet soft while the brush strokes are thin and small to give it a slightly distorted view that coincides with early morning light. The brushstrokes also contribute to the choppy water impression that reflects the monastery in an imperfect manner. 

Claude Monet was one of the main characters behind the French Impressionist movement. Impressionism is the way in which the eye first sees an impression and then adds additional detail upon inspection (3). It is like being blind and then seeing. The goal is to catch a reality or a mood on canvas form. 

Each viewer makes their own interpretation and impression of the painting.  Monet obviously had a mood and perception which he painted onto canvass. Yet each of us brings our own mood and perception to understanding that meshes with the authors to create unique experiences. Art is always in the eye of the beholder.