Through Students' Eyes - Monet again
There were quite a few outstanding assignments about Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The best ones will be shared here. Enjoy.
P. M. (8/a) chose another Monet painting. He saw it this way:
Monet: Impression: Sunrise
(Picture credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monet_-_Impression,_Sunrise.jpg)
This artwork looks like a fuzzy sketch at the first glance but if you look at it and recognize the patterns, lines, colours you see a beautiful landscape of a swampy lake. Monet uses short brushstrokes but separates things like the boat and the sun sharply. The colours perfectly represent the blue, orange and green of the “Sunrise”. The composition is balanced but not symmetrical. The emphasis is on the sun and the boat. The lines are curvy and straight at other places. The painting is dynamic but everything is slow. In my opinion the painting has a lot of space but it doesn’t need more detail because it has to show the vastness of the swamp.
The painting was painted in 1872 on a 50x62 cm canvas with oil. It was made by Claude Monet who earned the Impressionists their name. The artwork is now held in Museé Marmottan, Paris.
Monet’s main goal with this picture and style was to capture impressions, feelings and emotions.
I think his style is similar to Joseph Mallord William Turner’s or other Impressionist artists’ but also unique with his brushstrokes and colour choice.
The painting makes me feel happy but also it is mysterious. The words that come into my mind when I look at it are: New beginning, sun, warm, nature, fish, water, life, happiness, energy.
I think everybody thinks different things when looking at this artwork. It depends on your feelings that you have at the moment just like everybody has different impressions of different things.
I can make a lot of associations about this picture. Obviously it is dawn in the picture but there are other interesting things to look at. In my opinion the two people in the boat are fishermen, maybe even father and son. They are off fishing for the family or just enjoy rowing through the enormous lake. Fish are swimming under them, living their life just like the trees in the background.
I would definitely want to meet Claude Monet in person and ask him a lot of questions like:
What was the inspiration to this painting? Why did you choose dawn instead of dusk or noon?
Who are the people in the boat? Does this place exist in real life? Which is your favourite artwork?
What was it like to live then? How did people look at you and other Impressionists?
If I had to describe the artwork in one sentence it would be: The two fishermen rowing through the golden bridge reflection of the sun on the huge, beautiful swampy lake to get a meal for the family.