![]() ![]() The aim of Impression, Sunrise was not to paint a realistic view of the harbor instead, his style of painting suggests the impressions he felt while looking out the window at the view. The loose brushstrokes of Impression, Sunrise strayed from the more traditional landscapes of the time. Although the sun may seem like the brightest spot in the painting, in terms of photographic brilliance, it is on the same level as the grey hue of the water. The bright orange of the sun makes it an obvious focal point, and critics have debated whether the sun was rising or setting (in 2014 the Marmottan Museum determined that it was, in fact, rising, thanks to their extensive study of tides, weather reports and celestial trajectories). Monet has been commended for his use of color in Impression, Sunrise. It was painted by Monet in one sitting, with his technique of looking out the window and simply drawing what he saw. The painting shows a harbor in Le Havre, with the sun rising over the anchored ships. Painted in 1872, Impression, Sunrise was one of the paintings Monet showed at the inaugural Impressionist salon. Monet often took the brunt of the criticism leveled at the impressionist movement, as he was its most outspoken advocate and his paintings, more than any others, captured the essence of Impressionism. While the show was not a critical success, it was the first time Monet and his peers were referred to as “Impressionists” – although the name was meant to be insulting, the group embraced it. The first show, L’Exposition des Révoltés, was held in April 1874, featuring Monet and 29 other artists. It was then they decided to hold their own art show, free of the constraints of the government-organized salons. Along with Renoir, Pissarro, and Manet, Monet founded the Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers. The Impressionist movement was born when artists wanted to show their work without the approval of the French art academy. The surrounding landscapes provided inspiration for Monet’s famous garden series, which continued until his death in 1926. Together with fellow artists Renoir, Bazille and Sisley, Monet explored the effects of painting en plein air, forming the basis of Impressionism.Īfter the death of his beloved wife Camille in 1879, Monet moved to Giverny. Monet’s aunt, whom he was living with at the time, agreed to support Monet’s exemption if he agreed to undertake an art course, so in 1862 he became a student of Charles Gleyre. After a year of service, Monet contracted typhoid fever and went absent without leave. His studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the First Regiment of the African Light Cavalry although his wealthy father had the opportunity to pay for Monet’s exemption from conscription, he refused to do so after Monet refused to give up painting. He took a different approach, preferring to sit at a window and paint what he saw. When travelling to Paris, Monet noticed other arts students copying pieces from the great masters. They needed to show their work and they wanted to sell it.Monet in front of his famed Water Lily series. They all had experienced rejection by the Salon jury in recent years and felt that waiting an entire year between exhibitions was too long. The artists we know today as Impressionists-Claude Monet, August Renoir, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley (and several others)-could not afford to wait for France to accept their work. The works exhibited at the Salon were chosen by a jury-which could often be quite arbitrary. For most of the nineteenth century then, the Salon was the only way to exhibit your work (and therefore the only way to establish your reptutation and make a living as an artist). This may not seem like much in an era like ours, when art galleries are everywhere in major cities, but in Paris at this time, there was one official, state-sponsored exhibition-called the Salon-and very few art galleries devoted to the work of living artists. The group of artists who became known as the Impressionists did something ground-breaking in addition to painting their sketchy, light-filled canvases: they established their own exhibition. ![]()
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