Saturday, January 19, 2013
Monet's Cathedrale de Rouen
We didn't mention this (these) paintings, but I think they are very noteworthy. We talked in class about how light was really more important to the impressionists than reality was. They wanted to portray the way light was, and Monet definitely showed this desire in his series of paintings of the Rouen Cathedral. He painted over 30 versions of the exact same scene, but at different times of the day, showing how light changes as the day goes on. You can almost tell just by looking at the colors he used in various versions what time he painted that one during. If it is morning, it is a reddish orange, if it is midday, it is a yellowish white, and if it is night, it is a dark blue, almost black. Also, you can notice how the light obscures the structure of the cathedral itself. Monet's main point was to portray how the eye sees light and what that light does to surroundings. Monet is by far my favorite painter, and the first time I saw these paintings the accuracy of his portrayals of light really amazed me, so I thought I would share this with all of you.
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2 comments:
Monet's paintings of the Rouen Cathedral are some of my favorite impressionist paintings. Monet carries the experimentation with color and light much further that artists did in other impressionist paintings we've looked at. Another thing that I like about is that it doesn't seem to have the problems with perspective that some of the other paintings we've looked at do. I don't know why, but the improper perspective in a lot of these paintings really throws me off. I definately can understand why some of the early critics of Impressionist art reacted the way they did.
Tyler, Monet is my most favorite-est painter in the whole wide world too!!!! I love his giant waterlily paintings that are so big you're just swallowed by the blissful serenity. His use of colors, relflection off the water and lighting are stunning even if the details and perspective arent totally exact. He really celebrates the quiet, understated and peaceful garden scences and picnic scenes through art and color in a very special way. Again it's the theme of using the ordinary enviornment and activities of the day and finding and exalting the beauty in them. I dont know if I would rather be in a musuem surrounded by his garden and water lily paintings or be in the actual garden.
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