Claude Monet: More than an Impression Essay -- Artists Painters Impres

Claude Monet: More than an Impression From Alaska to Australia, Claude Monet is renowned for his contribution to the artistic world. Specifically, Monet is accredited with inspiring the subfield of impressionism. His painting, Impression, Rising Sun, (1873) is said to be the first impressionist painting (Taschen 31). This canvas vaguely pictures a small, lonely boat floating in front of a brilliant orange sun. This sun is surrounded by blue and grey tones that leave the viewer slightly chilled from the brisk early morning sense of the painting. The fact that the lines are blurred and the picture is without graphic detail led Louis Leroy to call its creator an impressionist. The impressionist movement stormed through Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. Today in museums from St. Petersburg to Chicago, people peruse Monet’s vision of the world. What many people do not realize, however, is that he left more than an impression. Aside from pleasing the eye, Monet’s works also paint a picture of 19th ce ntury France. France in the 19th Century Monet’s artistic career started much before the impressionist movement. While today he is famous for his landscapes and nature scenes, it wasn’t until 1858 that Monet began to paint outside, focusing on the natural beauty of France (Interagir.com). At this time, Napoleon III had gained power and France was beginning to feel the affects of the Industrial Revolution, which had started in 1830 (Francegate.com). Napoleon’s right hand man, Baron Haussman, redesigned the Europe District of Paris (Steele 35). He added huge boulevards and transformed Paris’ first train station into the magnificent station, Gare Saint Lazare. The changes that happened in the Europe District eventually spr... ... of his life he wanted to return to God. The speed and virility of trains can be equated with his younger life, while his older years are represented by true monuments of time and piety: cathedrals. Works Cited Francegate.com 17 Sept. 2003. History of France. 2001. http://ydelta.free.fr/history.htm. Interagir.com. 17 Sept. 2003. Biography of Claude Monet. 8 May 1999. http://www.intermonet.com/biograph/index.htm. National Gallery of Art. 17 Sept. 2003. Manet, Monet and the Gar Saint-Lazare. 2003. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/pjmanet.htm. Steele, Ross, Susan St. Onge, and Ronald St. Onge. La civilisation franà §aise en à ©volution I. Boston : Heinle and Heinle, 1996 Taschen, Benedikt. Monet. Trans. Michael Hulse. Germany: Holhenzollernring, 1994. Wilson-Bareau, Juliet. Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.