Impressionism Monet\'s Parasol Based in the 19th

Impressionism

Monet's Parasol

Based in the 19th century, impressionism was a type of art that was associated with Paris-based artists. Some characteristics of impressionism include "visible brush strokes, light colors, open compositions, emphasis on lights in its changing qualities, ordinary subject matter, and unusual visual angles" (New World Encyclopedia, 2009). The impressionist style is chiefly defined by "concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to stimulate actual reflected light" (Pioch, 2006). These characteristics helped define this type of art and artwork that resulted from more artists like Claude Monet, Renoir, Degas and the like (New World Encyclopedia, 2009). Though, according to the Web Museum of Paris, the principal Impressionist painters, among them Claude Monet, "worked together, influenced each other" but, "exhibited independently" (Pioch, 2006). One of the principal painters, Claude Monet, is one of the most well-known impressionist painters of his time. Monet was one of the founding fathers of French Impressionism as his "main concern was to reflect the influence of light on a subject" (Wanczura, 2009). The social dynamic of the time for artists was quite dainty, in that the upper class wanted portraits of themselves that portrayed them in "the best possible light" (Pham, 2010). As artists wanted to be hired again for their work, they often used clean lines so their work could be appreciated; but, Monet had a very different idea and seemed to capture the antithesis of the artist's dynamic at this time (Pham, 2010). Critics during this time did not see the vision that Monet had and were highly critical, as Monet's impressionist art work was considered incomplete (Pham, 2010).

One of Monet's works, Parasol is one of his most memorable. When looking at this particular painting up close, the picture is quite blurry. The brush strokes are very visible and blur into each other. The lack of clean, definitive lines contributes to the painting being blurry. It seems that "impressionism," as an art form, "aims to give the viewer a fleeting glimpse, an impression, of a moment in time" (Pham, 2010). The details kind of just blur together- the flowers and tall grass are not individual but rather flow together which leads to the blurred impression that I have of the painting when looking at it up close.