Impressionism appeared in France in the 1860s and overturned traditional ideas about painting. Looking at the sunny, life-breathing and light-filled paintings of the artists of this trend, it is hard to believe that their works were not recognized for a long time and were considered a deviation from the canons of classical painting. "Around the World" invites you to travel around France and see how different parts of the country are captured in the work of impressionist artists.

Claude Monet. "Field of poppies at Argenteuil" (1873)

The painting “Poppy Field...” was painted by Monet in Argenteuil, which is located just 10 kilometers from Paris and in the 19th century was a favorite vacation spot for residents of the capital. Monet and his family lived in this suburb for seven years and created many bright, full of colors and colors of canvases.

In Argenteuil, the artist worked a lot in the open air: he was always attracted by the opportunity to depict on the canvas a certain fragment of time, action and space. The painting “Field of poppies at Argenteuil” reflects another passion of the artist - love for flowers. Once Monet even called his garden his main masterpiece.

This painting is clearly divided into several parts, the most important of which is the one that depicts scarlet flowers, contrasting with the more empty right side of the canvas. We also see two couples painted from the artist's wife Camille and his eldest son Jean. Their location helps to structure the space of the picture and convey the captured movement.

While working on the painting, Monet did not mix paints, but applied strokes of different colors, which the human eye perceives as different color shades. At the same time, the artist prescribed more significant things more carefully. Thus, the accents here are made on the flowers and the upper part of the human figures in the foreground, while the field on the right side of the picture and the sky are less clearly defined.

Pierre Auguste Renoir. "Bridge to Shatu" (1875)

Chatou is another picturesque corner of France, which is loved by the artists of the new direction. It is often called the island of the Impressionists, because at this point the Seine is divided into two arms. As in neighboring Argenteuil, in the 19th century town of Chatou, an atmosphere of cheerful ease and noisy animation reigned.

People came here to swim, ride a boat or have a picnic, and these simple subjects were reflected in the paintings of the Impressionists. Father Fournaise's establishment under the Pont Chatou, where one could not only spend the night, but also rent rooms, was Renoir's favorite place. It was in this institution that the artist created his painting “Breakfast of the Rowers”, in which he depicted his acquaintances and friends. In 1990, the restaurant "Dom Fournaise" was restored, currently there is a small museum.

The painting "The Bridge at Chatou" differs from most of Renoir's works. Unlike Monet, the artist was much more fond of depicting people, and also preferred a more saturated color palette. And yet, "The Bridge to Shatou" is a landscape in which people are fuzzy dark figures. The bridge is drawn more carefully than other elements, in addition, such a popular boating is depicted here. The landscape is characterized by fuzzy lines and a smoky light and air environment. The absence of clearly traced human figures evokes a feeling of remoteness, and the light and color palette help to see joy in the ordinary.

Frederic Basil. "Landscape on the banks of the Lez" (1870)

Thanks to Basil's landscape, we set off from the central part of France to the south, to the artist's native region. Basil's name is much less widely known than the names of his friends Monet and Renoir, as he died at the age of 28. “Landscape on the banks of the Lez” is one of the last works of the artist: soon after completing work on the canvas, Basile volunteered for the Franco-Prussian War, where he soon died.

The artist completed the landscape in record time, it took him just over two months. During the work, Basil's relatives were away and did not distract him from the picture. In addition, he knew the area well. So, in a letter to his brother, he accurately indicated which place he depicted: “The bank of the Lez River near the mill at Navilau and the road to Clapier.”

The painting is very different from the landscapes of Monet and Renoir, since Basile preferred to paint the sun at its zenith, as well as depict a harsh light, different from the weightless and smoky light on the canvases of his friends. Basil also uses bright contrasting colors, and is more accurate and thorough in working on the details of the picture. Thanks to this, we can recognize on the canvas "Landscape on the banks of the Lez" the trees and vegetation characteristic of the southern part of France.

Camille Pissarro. Pont Boildieu in Rouen on a rainy day (1896)

Camille Pissarro entered the history of impressionism as a master of the urban landscape. He painted several paintings depicting Rouen, located in the north of France. Pissarro went to this city after he saw the cycle of Claude Monet dedicated to Rouen Cathedral.

Pissarro, like Monet, uses light and air to create canvases. He is attracted by the possibility of depicting the city as a living organism that is in constant motion. He uses darker colors and thicker strokes, but his paintings look more realistic. The unusual angle is often explained by the fact that Pissarro was painting from a hotel window.

The artist sought to reflect on the canvas the industrial features gradually appearing in the appearance of the city. This is what makes Rouen interesting for Pissarro, which, despite its exquisite architecture, became a port city and industrial center at the end of the 19th century.

Paul Cezanne. "View of the bay at Marseilles from Estac" (1885)

The landscape of Paul Cezanne again brings us back to the south of France, but at the same time it is completely different from the paintings already considered. The canvas of Cezanne, even to an unprepared viewer, seems more daring than the work of other impressionists. It is no coincidence that the artist is often called the father of modern art.

Born in the south of the country, Cezanne often depicted southern landscapes in his paintings. The surroundings of the fishing village of Estac became one of his favorite subjects for landscapes. In the 1880s, Cezanne, in an attempt to escape from family troubles, came to Estac and painted about ten paintings, which depicted the Gulf of Marseille.

One of the highlights of this period, View of the Bay of Marseille from Estac, is one of the highlights of Cezanne's painting that influenced Pablo Picasso. This is primarily about the special dense horizontal strokes of the artist, as well as the use of such deep and saturated colors as orange-yellow. Cezanne manages to achieve a three-dimensional image of water through the use of different shades of blue, as well as green and violet blotches. Like other impressionists, Cezanne liked to paint the sea, sky and mountains, but in his image they seem to be more dense and clearly defined.

The painting Field of Poppies (1873), shown at the first Impressionist exhibition, depicts Monet's wife Camille and their son Jean in a field near their home in Argenteuil. As in many other works by Monet, Camille is drawn with an umbrella in her hands, and its graceful outlines give the picture a special charm.

Monet painted "Field of Poppies" in the open air, on a small portable canvas. Although the painting conveys a natural, spontaneous feeling, it is carefully composed. This is expressed not only in the fact that the artist repeated the figures on it twice, but also in the choice of angle, which is set in such a way that the bright poppies that fill the left side of the composition are located diagonally along which Camille and Jean walk, as if leaving outside of the picture. The rich bloom and movement that fills this section of the picture is in measured contrast with the calm tones of the upper right edge of the canvas, where the terracotta roof of the house skillfully links the background with the foreground of the composition.

passion for flowers

Throughout his life, Monet was very fond of painting flowers - field, garden or cut, they are constantly present in his landscapes.

Monet once admitted that the two biggest passions in his life are painting and gardening. When he painted flowers, both of these passions combined. In Field of Poppies, as in many of his other canvases, Monet enjoys wild, vibrant flowers. Several beautiful still lifes of Monet with cut flowers are known, but most of all he liked to paint flowers that grew in his gardens, first in Argenteuil, and later in Giverny. In 1871, Monet moved with his family to Argenteuil to acquire his first home and his first garden there. However, the main passion in the life of the artist was his garden in Giverny. Monet selected flowers for his garden so that they were arranged in a certain order, were of contrasting color and bloomed all year round. In his garden, he planted many unusual flowers. Monet's passion for colors was shared by many other Impressionist artists, most notably Gustave Caillebotte. “Be sure to come on Monday, as agreed,” he wrote to his friend Monet. “All my irises will just be in bloom.”

Obsession with light and color

Monet's obsession with light and color resulted in years of research and experimentation, the purpose of which was to capture on canvas the fleeting, elusive shades of nature.

MONET'S PAINTINGs gave rise to a new trend in painting - impressionism, and Monet himself is recognized as the greatest and most typical representative of this trend. Throughout his long life, Monet steadily followed the basic rules of impressionism - to capture scenes of modern life on canvas (for Monet, these are landscapes) and to work outdoors.

WORKING IN THE PLAIN AIR The practice of an artist working in the open air (plein air) was not something completely new. As early as the beginning of the 19th century, the English artist John Constable often painted his sketches and oil studies in nature. In the 1840s, following his example, a group of French artists gathered in the village of Barbizon near the Forest of Fontainebleau with the aim of painting landscapes that were supposed to depict "true nature". Camille Corot, highly regarded by many Impressionists for his non-idealized view of nature, also painted in oils en plein air, urging artists to "follow their first impression".

Most important to Monet's development as an artist was his youthful friendship with the landscape painter Eugène Boudin, who specialized in small, airy seaside landscapes that he created outdoors. Bodin insisted that Monet join him during one of these sessions in Le Havre. “Suddenly, the veil fell from my eyes,” Monet later wrote.

There, in Le Havre, Monet met the Dutch artist Johann Bartold Jonkind, who tried to convey the most delicate shades of air and mood in his seascapes. Monet later said of him: "He was the man who finally developed my eyesight."

WHAT THE EYE REALLY SEES Monet learned that a painting painted outdoors has a unique freshness and vitality that cannot be achieved by working in a studio where the artist imagines in advance the work he is going to create. Monet's advice to artists clearly reveals his own approach to painting: “Try to forget what you see in front of you - a tree, a house, a field, whatever. Just think that there is a small blue square there, an oblong pink figure there, and continue until you have a naive impression of the picture that is in front of your eyes. Thus, the impression is a visual impulse created by what is seen at this particular moment.

A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA For all the Impressionists, and for Monet in particular, the main purpose of art was to capture the elusive, fleeting impression. At that time, such an idea seemed revolutionary and shocked no less than the undisguised realism of Courbet in NEW TECHNIQUE To achieve his goals, the artist needed new painting techniques. Monet, in particular, developed his own writing technique, applying broad, coarse strokes, bold scattered dots, dashes, zigzags and thick strokes to the canvas with a short brush. Monet simultaneously worked on the entire space of the painting, believing, as he later said, that "the first coat of paint should cover as much of the canvas as possible, no matter how roughly it is applied."

In a completely new, revolutionary way, Monet used color, inspired, no doubt, by Eugène Chevrel's discoveries about the way of visual perception. Chevreul proved that adjacent primary colors of the color wheel soften each other, and the greatest contrast is achieved when complementary colors are adjacent. Another important discovery was that color is not an inherent property of objects. Color is simply the way light mixes as it bounces off the surface of an object. Like his fellow Impressionists, Monet usually used a limited palette, preferring pure, unblended colors and painting on canvases pre-coated with white or cream primers, which made the applied colors lighter and brighter.

Another important discovery that influenced the vision of artists was photography. In the photographs of that time, moving objects are perceived as blurry spots, and only stationary objects have clear outlines. This effect was clearly reflected in the ant-like figures of people that we see in Monet's painting Boulevard des Capucines (1873).

CHANGING THE IMAGE OBJECT

It is very interesting to trace how Monet's attitude towards the objects depicted has changed over the course of a long life. Despite the fact that he was constantly absorbed in the play of light, in his early paintings, Monet most often depicted human figures painted in the usual manner against the backdrop of the landscape.

However, closer to the 1880s, Monet is increasingly attracted to nature in its purest form. If figures or inanimate objects appear in the paintings of this period, they usually play a supporting role and fade into the background.

SERIES OF PAINTINGS

Despite the fact that artists at all times created a series of sketches of one scene, before Monet there was no one who would have painted the same object several times under different lighting and different weather conditions. Monet's paintings represent a whole series depicting haystacks, poplars, the cathedral in Rouen, the view of London from the Thames and, finally, water lilies.

Monet's London landscapes, painted in 1899-1901, with their diffused light and diffused color, are virtuosic, dramatic works of art, from which one can trace the evolution of the artist's style towards an almost abstract manner. They show the artist's gradual progress towards the object that he will paint in all the remaining years of his life, creating his gardens and turning them into rare works of art.

From about 1905 until the end of his days, Monet concentrated entirely on water lilies. These paintings, in which the cups of water lilies literally materialize on the surface of the water, which does not have a horizon line, have become studies that capture an endless and non-repeating variety of color and light. In fact, these series of paintings, like any brilliant work of art, defy explanation. These are the works of a poet who subtly feels nature and is able to convey its beauty in his painting.

The great French Impressionist painter Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet), (1840-1926) was very fond of painting flowers. He painted flowers throughout his life, in different periods of creativity. More often garden and field flowers, less often - cut flowers in vases.

Flowers were his passion. Monet said that most of all in life he loves two things: painting and gardening. Therefore, he experienced the greatest pleasure when he depicted flowers in his paintings.

Even the members of his family, he always wrote surrounded by flowers, thereby emphasizing his sincere love for them.

“Perhaps it was thanks to the flowers that I became an artist,” Claude Monet said about himself.

One of Claude Monet's early works, Women in a Garden, 1866-1867, Musee d'Orsay, Paris.

The figures of women are depicted on this canvas in a very stylized way. The artist makes the whole emphasis on the play of light and shadow, on the foliage of trees and flowers. Monet is still looking for his own style, five more years remain before the official date of the birth of impressionism.
The model for all three women was 19-year-old Camille Donsier, the future wife of Claude Monet.

The canvas is very large, its dimensions are 2.05 by 2.55 m.
The artist intended to exhibit this painting at the Paris Salon in 1967, but the jury rejected it.

At the end of Claude Monet's life, when he was already a recognized and illustrious master, in 1921 the French government bought the painting "Women in the Garden" from the artist for 200 thousand francs.

Saint Andress

"Terrace at St. Andress", ca. 1867, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This painting depicts the artist's family, who lived in the small port town of Saint-Andresse near Le Havre on the coast of Normandy. Father Monet and his aunt Madame Lecadre are sitting in armchairs. At the railing stands a distant relative of Monet Jeanne-Margarita with a young man. We can say that this is a family scene against the backdrop of a seascape. But look how the flowers are drawn in the foreground of the picture! How well Monet conveyed the texture of flowers and the play of light and shadows.
Blooming Garden at St. Andress, c. 1866, Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
"Adolphe Monet Reading in the Garden of Le Coteau in Saint Andress", c. 1866
"Lady in the Garden", 1867, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The painting depicts a distant relative of Claude Monet, Jeanne-Marguerite Lecadre, in a garden at St. Andress.

Argenteuil, 1872 - 1977

Claude Monet always wanted to have his own garden, where he could work in the open air in peace.

At the end of 1871, Claude Monet and his family settled in Argenteuil. Then it was a small resort village near Paris, 12 km from the city center, located on the picturesque banks of the Seine. Argenteuil is now part of Greater Paris. In Argenteuil, Monet had his own house and his first garden. It seems to me that it was in Argenteuil that the best paintings of Claude Monet were created. It was the brightest period of his work. Monet's painting is generally light, but it is in Argenteuil that his canvases simply glow with joy. Apparently, these were the happiest years of his life. Almost all canvases painted in Argenteuil depict Camille, the beloved first wife of Claude Monet.

In those years, Argenteuil was a favorite vacation spot for Parisians; sailing regattas were regularly held there. A railroad led to Argenteuil, and it was quick and easy to get there from Paris. Not only Monet, but also other impressionist artists Manet, Renoir, Sisley, Caillebotte painted their landscapes in Argenteuil.

A friend of the artist Renoir captured him at work in Argenteuil, and thanks to this we can see what the garden of Claude Monet was like, and how he painted in the open air. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Monet painting in his garden at Argenteuil, 1873
And Edouard Manet painted a family portrait of the artist against the backdrop of a flowering garden. Édouard Manet, The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil, 1874, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The painting depicts Claude Monet caring for flowers, his wife Camille and son Jean. Garden, flowers and chickens. In 10 years, Claude Monet will have all this at Giverny.
Pierre Auguste Renoir, Madame Monet and her son, 1974 National Gallery, Washington. Camille Monet and her son Jean. It seems that Edouard Manet and Renoir wrote the Monet family on the same day and in the same place. This canvas was kept in the collection of Claude Monet in Giverny. The artist's younger son Michel Monet sold it in 1952 during a period of complete devastation in Giverny. After several resales under the will of the last owner in 1970, this painting entered the National Gallery in Washington.

"Artist's House in Argenteuil", 1873. Art Institute, Chicago.
Monet's Garden at Argenteuil, 1873
"Houses in Argenteuil", 1873, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. In summer, Argenteuil was literally buried in flowers.
Flowers by the River at Argenteuil, 1877, Pola Museum of Art, Hakone, Japan. The Seine at Argenteuil is very picturesque, in this place it forms a beautiful bend. Claude Monet was fascinated by the river and the nature of Argenteuil, he enthusiastically worked here in the open air.
Camille Monet on a Garden Bench. 1873 Metropolitan Museum, New York. As always, a garden, and, as always, flowers. Please note: there is a bouquet of flowers on the bench next to Camilla.
Jean Monnet on a bicycle horse. 1872 Metropolitan Museum, New York. Even painting a portrait of his son, Claude Monet did not forget about the flowers. He preferred to capture all the significant events of life on his canvases against the background of flowers.
"In the Meadow", 1876 The canvas depicts the artist's wife, Camille Monet, reading a book in a meadow, surrounded by meadow flowers.
"Apple trees in bloom", 1873. Amazing!
"The artist's family in the garden", 1875
"In the garden", 1875 This picture, apparently, depicts the same corner of the garden as the previous one, only a few months later - in the fall. Claude Monet liked to paint cycles of paintings - the same objects in different lighting conditions: at different times of the year, at different times of the day. He tried to convey the fleeting states of the light-air environment, to capture the barely perceptible halftones of color. We see how a corner of the garden is changing, how the colors are fading, the light is fading. The flowers in the flower bed withered, and the foliage on the trees turned yellow.
"Woman with Umbrella" ("Walk: Camille Monet with her son Jean"), 1875, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
"Camille Monet with her son", 1875, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA.
Corner of the Garden at Montgeron, ca. 1876, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Montgeron is a small town in the suburbs of Paris, located 18.5 km southeast of the city center. Now it is one of the southeastern suburbs of Paris.

"Woman with an umbrella in a garden at Argenteuil", 1875.	"Walk, Argenteuil", 1875.	"Walk in Argenteuil", 1875, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris.
"Garden", 1872.	Camille Monet in the garden, 1873	"Camille Monet at the Window. Argenteuil", 1873.
"Bank of the Seine near the bridge at Argenteuil", 1874.	"Camille and Jean Monnet in the garden at Argenteuil", 1873.	"Camille Monet in the Garden at Argenteuil", 1876, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
"Gladiolus". OK. 1876. Art Institute, Detroit, USA.	"Girls in the Garden", 1875, National Gallery in Prague.	"Camille with a Green Umbrella", 1876.
"Garden Gate at Vethea", 1876.	"Garden", 1876.	"Garden, Mallows", 1877.

Very interesting series "Lilac". Compare:

poppy fields

One of Claude Monet's most famous paintings, Field of Poppies (1873, Musée d'Orsay, Paris), was painted in Argenteuil, not far from the artist's home. The painting depicts Monet's wife Camille and his son Jean. Presumably, his wife and son also served as models for the figures of a lady with a child in the background.
See how expressively the artist painted scarlet poppies and yellow buttercups. Camille and Jean literally drown in poppies, forming complete harmony with the nature of a sunny summer day.
Monet chose a very good angle for his painting - scarlet poppies are located in the lower left part of the picture, diagonally along which Camille and Jean walk. It seems that the poppies go beyond the canvas.

Fields of poppies fascinated Monet. He repeatedly returned to them in his work. He was attracted by the contrast of red poppies and green grass.

"Summer. Poppy field", 1875, private collection.

"Poppy field near Vetey" 1879.

"A field of poppies in a hollow near Giverny", 1885. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

"Field of Poppies", circa 1890. State Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

"Oat field with poppies", 1890. Museum of Modern Art, Strasbourg.

"Field of poppies at Giverny". 1890-1891 Art Institute, Chicago.

"A field of red poppies near Giverny", 1895. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, USA.

tulip fields

Claude Monet visited Holland several times. And, of course, he could not remain indifferent to tulips. He created a series of paintings depicting the main attractions of Holland - tulip fields and windmills.

Tulip Fields in Sassenheim, near Leiden, 1886, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA.

"Tulip fields and windmills in Rijnsburg", 1886, private collection.

Tulip Fields in Holland, 1886. Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

"Field of tulips in Holland". 1886, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris.

Vetheuil, 1879 - 1881

"Artist's Garden at Vetheuil", 1880. National Gallery, Washington.

In 1879, the Monet family moved to Vetheuil, a small village on the banks of the Seine, 65 km northwest of Paris. Here, Claude Monet had a second son, Michel, but, unfortunately, his first wife Camille soon died.
The Monet family lived in Vetheuil until 1881.

Claude Monet meets the family of Alice Hoschedé, whom he has known for several years. They live together, later Alice became his second wife. But in the paintings of Claude Monet, Alice Goshede, unlike Camille, is very rare. Her daughters, Claude Monet's stepdaughters, served as models for the artist's canvases.

"Flowers on the banks of the Seine near Vetheuil", 1880.	"Alice Goshede in the garden", 1881. Future second wife of Claude Monet.	"Staircase at Vethea", 1881.
"Isle of Flowers near Vetheus", 1880, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.	"Flowers in Veteya", 1881.	"Flowers in Veteya", 1881.

Flowers in a vase

Most of all, Claude Monet loved garden and wild flowers, but sometimes he also painted still lifes, bouquets of cut flowers.

"Spring Flowers", 1864. The location of the painting is currently unknown.
Of course, it is still difficult to recognize the future great impressionist artist in this canvas.

"Chrysanthemums", 1878. Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

"Bouquet of mallow", 1880.

"Sunflowers", 1881. Metropolitan Museum, New York.

"Chrysanthemums" 1882. Metropolitan Museum, New York.

"Purple poppies", 1883. Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Anemones, ca. 1885, private collection.

"Two vases with chrysanthemums". 1888, private collection.

Giverny 1883 - 1926

In 1883, the Claude Monet family moved to Giverny. This is a small village in a picturesque area on the banks of the River Epte, at its confluence with the Seine, about 80 km from Paris. Claude Monet will live in Giverny for the rest of his life.

By this time, he had already become a well-known artist and a well-to-do person. In 1890, he was able to purchase the house in Giverny where his family lived. In the house he equipped a spacious workshop.

Claude Monet significantly expanded his garden, arranged a pond in it, the water to which came from a special water intake reservoir built on the Epte River.

In those years, Claude Monet became interested in Japanese culture, Japanese prints, especially the prints of the great Japanese artist Hokusai.
To maintain the garden, Monet hired a Japanese gardener who helped him arrange the Japanese-style garden. Monet himself was directly involved in the planning of the garden. The artist subscribed to the magazine Revue horticole (Journal of Horticulture), ordered plants and flowers from around the world for his garden.

It was this garden that became the main love in the last years of the artist's life. He worked in it, he wrote it in all forms, from different points, at different times of the day. The garden became the main source of inspiration for the artist.
Monet grew various flowers in the garden, water lilies grew in the pond, the famous "Japanese bridge" was thrown across the pond. He could admire his garden for hours, observe the slightest changes in lighting and weather.
In the autumn of 1899, Claude Monet began to paint his famous Water Lilies series, on which he worked until the end of his days.

Claude Monet in his garden with a water lily pond in the background, 1905

Claude Monet in his garden, c. 1917 Photo: Etienne Clementel.
The pictures look a little "colored" and blurry, since they were stereoscopic pictures, they had to be viewed through special colored glasses, then the image turned out to be voluminous.

Claude Monet (right) in his garden at Giverny. 1922 Photo courtesy of The New York Times.

"Alley in the garden", 1902. Belvedere Gallery, Vienna. Blooming Arch at Giverny, 1913. Phoenix Museum of Art, Arizona, USA. "Rose Arch at Giverny (Flower Arch)". 1913, private collection. "Yellow Irises", between 1914-1917 National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. "The path between the irises". 1914-17, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. "White water lilies". 1899 Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow.
The famous pond with water lilies and the Japanese bridge. "Pond with water lilies (Japanese bridge)", 1899. Metropolitan Museum, New York. "Pond with lilies. Harmony in green." 1899, National Gallery, London. "Pond with lilies. Harmony in green." 1899, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. "Waters. Harmony in pink". 1900 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. "Pond with water lilies". 1900 Art Institute, Chicago.

On the first canvases of the Water Lilies series, Claude Monet depicted a pond with a Japanese bridge, against the backdrop of lush garden vegetation.

In his last works, depicting a pond with water lilies, he deliberately distorted all the accepted rules of perspective, abandoned the horizon line, and painted only water with water lilies. Water lilies floating on the water are often cut off by the borders of the canvas, it seems that the real pond is something more than what is shown in the picture.
This series of "Waters" has over 60 canvases.

"Waters". 1906 Art Institute, Chicago.
"Waters", 1916. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. This huge, 2-meter canvas is one of the most expressive in the Water Lilies series. Pink and yellow islands of water lilies are located on the dark blue, dark green and even purple surface of the pond water. The whole picture is in motion, we see the intertwining roots of water lilies. The water lily flowers themselves literally protrude above the surface of the water. Claude Monet felt nature very subtly and could convey all its subtleties and modulations on his canvases.
"Waters". 1920-26 Orangerie Museum, Paris.

In 1980, Claude Monet's house and garden at Giverny were opened to the public. Now it is one of the most favorite museums among tourists in the suburbs of Paris.

Claude Monet. Poppies. 1773 Musée d'Orsay, Paris

“Poppies”, one of the most famous works of Claude Monet, I saw in. However, at the time, she didn't look at it properly. As a fan, my eyes just ran wide from all those masterpieces that are in this museum!

Later, of course, I have already considered the "Maki" properly. And I found that in the museum I didn’t even notice a few interesting details. If you look at the picture more closely, you will probably have at least three questions:

1. Why are poppies so big?
2. Why did Monet depict two almost identical pairs of figures?
3. Why did the artist not draw the sky in the picture?

I will answer these questions in order.

1. Why are poppies so big?

Poppies are shown very large. Most of them are the size of the head of the depicted child. And if you take the poppies from the background and bring them closer to the figures in the foreground, then they will be even larger than the head of both the child and the depicted woman. Why is it so unrealistic?

In my opinion, Monet deliberately increased the size of the poppies: this is how he once again preferred to convey a vivid visual impression, rather than the realism of the depicted objects.

Here, by the way, one can draw a parallel with his technique of depicting water lilies in his later works.

For clarity, look at fragments of paintings with water lilies from different years (1899-1926). The top work is the earliest (1899), the bottom is the latest (1926). Obviously, over time, water lilies became more and more abstract and less detailed.

Apparently "Poppies" - this is just a harbinger of the predominance of abstract art in the later paintings of Monet.

Paintings by Claude Monet. 1. Top left: Water lilies. 1899 d. Private collection. 2. Top right: Water lilies. 1908 d. Private collection. 3. In the middle: A pond with water lilies. 1919 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 4. Bottom: Lilies. 1926 Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City.

2. Why are there two pairs of identical figures in the picture?

It turns out that it was also important for Monet to show movement in his painting. He achieved this in an unusual way, depicting a barely visible path on a hill among flowers, as if trodden between two pairs of figures.

At the bottom of a hill with poppies, his wife Camille and son Jean are depicted. Camilla is traditionally depicted with a green umbrella, just like in the painting “Woman with an umbrella”.

Upstairs on a hillock is another couple of a woman and a child, for whom Camilla and her son most likely also posed. Therefore, the two pairs are similar.

Claude Monet. Poppies. Fragment. 1873 Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

This pair of figures on a hill is depicted, perhaps solely for the visual effect of movement, which Monet so aspired to.

3. Why didn't Monet paint the sky?

Another noteworthy point in : notice how poorly the sky is drawn right down to the bare sections of the canvas left.

Claude Monet. Poppies. Fragment. 1873 .

I can assume that the matter is in the very technique of impressionism: Monet painted pictures in a matter of hours and even minutes to depict the play of light and colors at a certain moment of the day. Therefore, there was not always enough time for all the elements of the landscape. Working out all the details is the lot of studio work, not outdoor work.

By the way, the painting "Poppies" was also exhibited at the first exhibition of the Impressionists in 1874, which I wrote about in more detail in the article.