Finding inspiration in nature; Claude Monet

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     Impressionist painting is an art movement that began in the 19th century. The short, thick strokes of paint and the vibrant use of colors characterize this movement. Optical mixing, or letting the 'eye' doing the mixing of colors for you (instead of blending the paint on the canvas) creates an image that seems to "be alive." Impressionist painters often look outside of themselves for a source of inspiration. Many times this inspiration comes from nature or human subjects.

       Claude Monet is one of the most famous impressionist painters. Monet was one of the first artists to paint outdoors (or ‘en plein air’ – a French expression, which means “in the open air.” Instead of drawing inspiration from old masters, Monet was one of the first to be in nature, while painting it. Some of his most famous paintings are the series of approximately 250 oil paintings of water lilies (or Nympheas). His source of inspiration was his flower garden at Giverny. These beautiful paintings show bright, vivid hues of purples and greens. Up close the images are difficult to depict, but far enough away your mind optically mixes the colors.  Although you can’t make out the tiny details, the larger picture becomes clearer. Because the image isn’t immediate, it causes our brain to subconsciously think about the subject matter. We sit there and ponder the strokes and how they formed. In some of his other paintings such as,  ‘Rue Montorgueil’ we see small vertical marks, lining the street. Our mind makes out these dots as humans, and we optically mix the reds and blues to form flags. Instead of showing us the picture, our minds must do the work. Monet and other impressionist painters don’t just give us something to look at, they give us something to work at. We connect with the image and in our minds we envision what all those little strokes of color mean. These artists give us the framework or tools to make their paintings into what we want. We can imagine what we want to and even put emotion on the paintings. As viewers we can put ourselves into the scene and in a way decide what is happening. The inspiration the artist uses to first create the painting rubs off on us and becomes our inspiration. Our visual literacy with which we read the painting or what we interpret the strokes of paint and color to be.

       Monet’s work can be viewed and enjoyed by people, in museums all around the world.  Monet shared his culture and experiences with us, and we have the fortunate gift of being able to read this visual literacy. Art has also benefited from Monet’s work. This impressionist style has carried on throughout the generations. Many artists still paint in the impressionist style today, some still paint directly from nature or 'en plein air' as Monet once did. All of them drawing their inspiration from sources outside themselves.

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