Claude Monet

Claude Oscar Monet

When Monet was 34 years old, he exhibited a landscape called Impression: Sunrise (1872) in a show. This patchily-textured work caused one critic to skeptically call the entire show impressionist, which gave the movement its name and established Monet as one of its leaders.

He influenced art by trying to paint his personal, spontaneous response to outdoor scenes or events. Monet was the most important of the artists who first allowed their initial impressions of scenes to stand as complete works. He was especially concerned with the effects of outdoor light and atmosphere.

Monet worked in Antibes in early 1888, and on his return to Paris exhibited ten paintings of the area at the gallery of the dealers Boussod & Valadon, run by Theo van Gogh, brother of the painter. Antibes was probably one of these.

When painting the Mediterranean coast, Monet was faced with the problem of capturing the intensity of the southern light and colour. In a letter to his partner Alice Hoschedé, he commented: "What I bring back from here will be Sweetness itself, white, pink and blue, all enveloped in this magical air." Monet evoked the effect of the southern light by heightening his colours and co-ordinating the colour relationships throughout the picture into clear sequences of contrasts. Back to Claude Monet Throw Pillows.