sted in the Impressionist movement and its defining artists.Impressionism, a 19th-century art movement, focuses on noticeable brushstrokes, intense lighting, ordinary landscapes, and unique perspectives. When most people think of Impressionism, they think of Monet, and this is fairly accurate as the term Impressionism originates from one of Monet’s works, Impression, Sunrise.
Parisian-born Claude Monet is the prime example of many of the art works of Impressionism. Perhaps Monet’s more recognizable paintings are of various scenic landscapes from around his home, particularly his garden in Giverny, France and the water lilies, bridge and pond surrounding his estate.
Perception, art critic Mark Rollins says, is the most important aspect of appreciating and understanding Monet’s works. Monet stated, “I am pursuing the impossible. I want to paint the air.” Rollins feels that in order to do this, Monet must have been able to change the capacity in which people viewed his paintings.
In many instances, the public feels that it is practically impossible to agree on only one correct interpretation. However,
most can also agree that the artist’s intention for the painting can provide the closest standard for what is correct or incorrect.Rollins feels that Monet painted with the idea in the back of his mind that he had to change the way people normally looked at things. By seeing things in a different way, and paying primary attention to objects that would not normally stand out, Monet changed the way people viewed art. Rollins notes that by doing this, Monet achieved his goal, he was able, “to paint the invisible air,” which in a sense, “is to paint other, visible things in such a way as to exploit constraints on the visual system to produce a rich array of atmospheric, color, and shading effects.”
Adrian Lewis, another art critic, also agrees that Monet kept in mind the way his audience would be viewing his paintings. In order to achieve something different, Lewis feels that Monet worked exceptionally well with light in his paintings, which introduced various vantage points. Lewis notes that, “Monet’s impasted strokes lodged within the thinly swept and scrubbed paint indicate an aesthetic of embodying ‘sensations’ in the present,” which is to say Monet tried to bring out emotions from the people that contemplated his works.
Both critics agree that Monet was an exceptional Impressionist artist. His work attracted a new audience who wanted to feel “involved” in paintings and those that wanted to have something evoked, thought or feelings, upon looking at a piece of art. Monet’s beautiful surroundings did nothing to hinder his creativity, and both critics also agree there is no harm in regarding Monet as the father of the Impressionist movement.
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