The work I chose for the assignment is called Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (Sunlight) and was painted by Claude Monet. Claude Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in Paris. He is best known for his Impressionistic style painting. According to Britanica, Impressionism is characterized by “an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and color.” Claude Monet was able to do so by focusing on the study of light and form over many canvases depicting the same subject. The Rouen Cathedral is one example of such work. According to the Met Museum website, this collection of paintings was done over the period of multiple days, after which he worked on those same paintings in his studio in Giverny. At that time, he was able to adjust the images in relation to each other to come up with the final result of having done over twenty cathedral pictures. Furthermore, Monet focused on portraying the structure by using detailed and textured brushstrokes, which again is portrayed in the Cathedral painting. This reflects the stylistic choices of modernism because while Monet was trying to portray the reality he saw around him, he was able to take stylistic decisions. Furthermore, making multiple copies of the same subject and then basing the works on each other deviates more from the reality noticed during a concrete moment in time and creates more leeway for the artist to layer his individual view of the subject.
I think that what drew me to this piece is its use of color and the textured brush. When I saw this hanging on the wall, the first thing that came up to me is the contrast Monet was able to achieve between the blue of the sky and the lighter color of the cathedral. Furthermore, I found it interesting that Monet was able to portray so many details of the cathedral using so many similar shades of the same color.
The questions I still have about the work is what inspired Monet to do multiple completed paintings of the same subject, and did all of those works supposed to be considered pieces or merely sketches before the arrival to the final work? Another question I have is why did Monet start to paint using the impressionistic techniques and deviate from the original styles?
Overall, I believe that this painting does a good job at depicting the world around us while also taking some artistic leeway to depict that world through the eyes of the artist.
Kate, This is a great example of Monet’s work. I think he completed a series of works that all depict this same cathedral because he is less interested in the cathedral itself and more interested in figuring out how, as a painter, he wants to represent the play of light and shadow over the structure, as we see here. I think he is influenced by other Modernists to explore new ways of creating images on canvas by moving away from some of the rules and expectations associated with Realism.