Claude Monet

The history of impressionism is closely connected with the biography and creative work of Claude Monet. At the first exhibition of the Impressionists, held in 1874 and called the "Exhibition of the Rebels", the artist presented the painting "Impression. Sunrise". One of the critics, who saw the picture, applied this title (“Impression ..”) to his article “The Impressionist Exhibition”. The "rebels" were sympathetic to the nickname given to them and began to use it as the name of a group of artists, of which Claude Monet became the recognized leader.

On the advice of the famous artist Eugene Boudin, Claude Monet began to paint landscapes in the open air. Observing nature, the artist came to the conclusion that there are no constant tones in nature, that the color of any object is changeable and depends on the lighting.

The creation of paintings in the open air becomes the program of his work. “I want to capture the moment: the atmosphere and the light scattered in it,” said Monet.

The desire to convey the first impression of what he saw required a radical revision of the basic principles of painting. A lively interest in light and color allowed the artist to abandon the plot, and a broad worldview contributed to the vision of beauty in the simplest natural motif. It is the vibration of moving individual strokes that becomes the most important feature of the artist's work.

Objects on his canvases lose their density, disintegrating into many color reflections, creating a single environment of light and air.

The place of a large classical painting was taken by a sketch, which became a finished work, but at the same time retained all the freshness of a momentary visual impression. Wanting to capture the various nuances of lighting, the complexity of color relationships, from the end of the 1880s, Claude began to paint a whole series of paintings, in one motif.

In the later works of Monet, the desire for a flattening of space is growing, which ultimately leads to a change in work from easel paintings to decorative panels. The momentary impression gives way to the duration of contemplation, bringing the works of Monet closer to the works of the French Symbolists.