Painting Read Monet's the Stroll

Monet

Monet's the Stroll, Camille Monet Her Son Jean (Woman With a Parasol)

This painting epitomizes the impressionistic style and artistic philosophy in a number of different ways. If one looks closely at the painting by Monet one can see that the foreground, the sky as well as the dress and parasol are created by many short strokes of opaque paint. This gives the impression of a moment captured and intense movement and dynamism. Essentially the term Impression refers to the ability to take a "snapshoot "as it were, of a moment in reality which is represented in its dynamic flow and beauty. This describes the painting by Monet, which is a good example of the Impressionist style and technique as well as of their distinct approach to art. The following discussion will explore this painting in detail.

Overview of Impressionism

Central to the Impressionistic school or movement in art is the objective of capturing the moment. Coupled with this is the idea of spontaneity in depicting the myriad changes and fluctuations in nature and the world around us. As one commentator notes about the painting under discussion; "This masterpiece epitomizes the Impressionist concept of "the glance." It triumphs wonderfully in conveying the sensation of a snapshot in time, a stroll on a beautiful sunny day" (WebMuseum: Monet, Claude: The Stroll, Camille Monet and Her Son Jean (Woman with a Parasol).

Impressionism as an art movement began in...

In simple terms this art movement can be described as a philosophy as well as a method of art which is aligned with other illusionistic or representational styles of painting and sculpture. However, a central difference is that "… the illusion comes from what the artist sees rather than, as it was the case before, from what he intellectually knows. Monet eyes perceive nature as a pattern of nameless color patches without any prevailing conceptual knowledge" (Impressionism - Biography of Claude Monet). In other words, Impressionism does not allow the intellect or reason to intervene between the image and its creation. It is a more immediate and more spontaneous method of painting, which is why it was often practiced outside the studio in the open air.
Impressionistic paintings usually follow a number of central techniques or stylistic characteristics, which are all evident in this painting by Monet. The painters tend to use short, opaque brush strokes in order to rapidly capture the ambience and feeling of the moment. These paintings usually have very little blending and colors are often applied next to each other, which leads to forms of optical mixing. These works usually have little conventional blending. The colors are applied next to each other, leading to optical mixing of colors from the perspective of the viewer. Wet into wet technique is also common, which adds spontaneity to the impressions (Impressionism:…