Monet

72 Pages·1997·14.394 MB·English

by  Trewin Copplestone, Guy Jennings

MONET
The History and Techniques
of the Great Masters
Monet's Painting Methods
Guy
Jennings
MONET
Anyonewho hasvisited anartgallerywill
understand thevalueofbeingableto lookat
paintingsclose up, toseetheway thecolors
have been used and howthe paint has been
handled. Nowyou can haveyourown
personal artgallery in thisseriesofbooks, The
HistoryandTechniquesoftheGreatMasters.
Each book bringsyouaselection often or
morefamous paintings, magnificently
reproduced in full color, and with actual size
detailssothatyou can see thewaytheartist
hasworked-justasthough the paintings
were hangingonyourown walls. Thetext
analyzeseach painting in turn, and
informativecaptionstellyou exactlywhich
techniquestheartist has used toobtain
particulareffects, whattypeofcanvasand
primingwas used, and howthecolorswere
chosen, mixed and applied.
Claude Monetwasthecentral figure in the
Impressionistmovement, onewhichwasto
transform paintingall overtheworld and to
win alasting popularityfor itsexponents. The
Impressionists brokeawayfrom theaccepted c^S
historical, religiousand mythological subject-
matterand painted whattheysawaround
them-landscapesand scenesofeveryday
life. Monethimselfwentfurther, always C-3
workingoutofdoorsdirectly from life. He
rejected thesmooth brushworkfavored bythe
Academiciansoftheday, handling hispaintin
avaried and inventiveway sothatthe
texturesfound in natureareemulated by the
marksofhis brush. His lifeasan artistwasan
unceasingstruggleto record the fleeting
effectsofnature by meansofasmall palette
ofpure, brightcolors, and heoften painted CO
several versionsofthesameview under
different lights, workingon fourorfive
paintings in thecourseofoneday.
Theselection ofpaintings shown here records
thesuccessofhisstruggle, and traces his
developmentfrom earlyworkssuchas
Women in theGarden, through the "series"
paintingstothe last, great Waterliliespanels,
painted forthe French nation. In thetext, the
authoroutlinesthe majorevents in Monet's
lifeand explainsthe ideas behind hiswork.

The History and Techniques
of The Great Masters
Monet
i

The History and Techniques
of The Great Masters
Monet
Trewin Copplestone
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Copyright© 1987QuartoPublishingpic
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Contents
Introduction
-6-
Chronology
- 16-
The
Paintings
Women in the Garden
18
Bathing at La Grenouillere
22
Impression, Sunrise
-26-
AUTUMN AT ARGENTEUIL
-30-
The Gare Saint-Lazare
- 34-
BOATS AT ETRETAT
- 38-
Grain Stacks, End of Summer
-44-
POPLARS ON THE BANKS OF THE EPTE
-48-
Rouen Cathedral:
Harmony Blue and Gold
in
-52-
Morning with Willows
-56-
I N D K X
-62-
Acknowledgements
-64-
Introduction
Monet's paintings carry a peculiar and he enjoyed parties and the cafe life
magic. They are ordinary enough that was such an important part ofthe
in subject matter, consisting almost Parisian artistic scene. Although a Pari-
exclusivelyofbasicallydirecttreatments sian from commercial necessity, he
—
oflandscape figuresrarelyappear,and always loved the countryside, which he
after 1890 not at all. The paintings have treasuredforitsinfinitevarietyaswellas
littleobviousdramaorplannedappealto forthesolitudeitoffered.Thelandscape,
the emotions, and they make no kind of Carolus-Duran and particularlytheseacoastandwater,
political or social statement. Neverthe- PortraitofClaudeMonet was his passion throughout his life.
1867
less they evoke a constant delight from MuseeMarmottan, Paris Butpassionisnotreallythewordthat
most viewers, and this very delight in provides the key to either the Impres-
many ways obscures Monet's really extraordinary sionist movement as a wholeorto Monet in particular.
achievement.ItcouldbeclaimedthatMonet,morethan Perhapsthemostsignificantthreadrunningthroughthe
any of the Impressionists, opened the path to a new movement and unifying its varied strands is a concern
understanding ofthe nature ofpainting. with vision rather than with emotion or social state-
At first sight Monet appears as an uncomplicated, ment. When Degas painted his laundresses he was not
non-intellectualpainter,constantlyexcitedbytheworld concerned,asDickenswouldhavebeen,withthesweat-
around him, drawing his subjects from nothing more shop conditions in which they worked, but with colors
ambitious than his local countryside, and dedicated to andtheeffectsoflightonsharplypressed,cleanfabrics.
exploring the effects oflight on the natural landscape. Similarly, it would be unwise to assume that because
Wethinkofhimasasimple,directpersonleadingaquiet Monet painted the facade of Rouen Cathedral many
lifeandblessedwithanequabletemperament,unbeset times it was because of any strong attachment to the
byanyofthe tensionsand anxietiesthat afflicted pain- faith it embodied.
ters such as Van Gogh and Gauguin. He seems to per- Despite the absence of dramatic, emotional and
sonify,notjustthe"happypainter"butalsothenatureof socialinvolvementonthe partofitscentralfigures,the
theImpressionistmovementitself,andindeeditwasone Impressionistmovementinitiatedagreatartisticrevolu-
ofhispaintings,Impression, Sunrise(seepage27),exhi- tion,andonethathashadalastingeffect,notonlyonart-
bited at the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874, that ists, butalso on theart-aware public. Itchangedallthe
gavethemovementitsname.(Theword"impressionist" ideas ofwhat constitutes a painting, distinguishing, in
was in fact intended as a derisory comment, but was effect,betweena"picture" anda"painting."Anyappre-
takenbymostofthegroupasanacceptabledescription ciation of what the movement achieved hinges on an
ofits aims.) understandingofMonet's own achievement; he wasits
InfactMonet'smaincharacteristicsweredetermina- pivotanditscenter,andhislonglifedocumentsitsdeve-
tion and single-mindedness, and his nature was much lopment and evolution well into ourown century.
more complex than his paintings would lead us to Monet'sintention,developedoverhisentirepainting
believe.Hislifewasaconstantstrugglewithwhathesaw career,wastopaintwhathesaw.Thismayseemtousa
asinsoluble technical problems, and he was frequently straightforward, even commonplace ambition, but it is
^sodissatisfiedwithhisworkthathewould notallowitto important to realize that it was far from being a uni-
betakenfromthestudio.Inhishomelifehewasanauto- versalpreoccupationofartistsofthepast,norisitoftena
crat, demanding total punctuality from both his family primaryconcernofartiststoday.InMonet'sowntimethe
and hisservants. With hisfriendshe wasmorerelaxed, well-known academic painters were concerned, not