art masterpiece: monet

 

 Chrysanthemums by Claude Monet

The discussion on Claude Monet was great. How could it not be, right?  Monet's work is wonderful; impressionism artwork many of which were made outside with lots of color and light. I brought lots of small examples of his work to show the class in addition to this painting.  I found it especially interesting that he panted the same scenes over and over again with different results due to the time of day and season. I didn't realize he did this.  Showing examples of the Poplar Series artwork (shown left) helped the kids visualize how the same picture can be painted and look so different. 

About the Artist
Claude Monet was born in France in 1840. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be an artist rather than go into the family grocery business, and so he went to school to learn art. Monet felt that nature knows no black or white this resulted in this artist creating colorful pieces of work. This is his painting that we will be looking at today.

The name of this painting is Chrysanthemums.  What do you think a Chrysanthemum is?

What does it look like close-up?  Show Monet's painting and emphasize it looks fuzzy up close but realistic from a distance.

This painting style is called Impressionism.  Monet created the style as he experimented with light and color and learned to portray subjects with quick brush strokes. When you stepped back from the canvas, your eyes would blend the colors together.

What is impressionism all about?  Light, color and capturing a moment in time.

Monet liked to paint “en plien air”.  Anyone want to take a guess as to what that means? He enjoyed painting outdoors observing how the light would change as the day progressed. Monet painted outdoor scenes as he saw them.

Monet planted a grand garden with a pond and Japanese bridge. He loved to paint the garden and the lily ponds. Monet was fascinated by light; the way it reflected off objects and water. He featured his garden in more than 200 of his paintings.

Monet painted his garden scenes over and over again, and each would be different, how could that be?  He painted at a different time of day when the sun was at a different position in the sky.  In the morning when the sun is rising there is dew on the plants that make them glisten, then again in the afternoon when the sun was the brightest and again in the evening when shadows are made and the sun sets a warm glow.

Why would that change the picture?  Light affects color and shadows.  Also different season created different colors. (show poplars) Do you know what warm colors are? (yellow, orange and red).  What about cool colors? (blue, green and violet).

Monet used texture in many of his painting. Texture is the quality of the surface, smooth or rough. Texture you can touch or feel. Monet created texture with thick paint, brush strokes and dabs of color. Do you think the texture of this painting rough or smooth?