First Impressions
In the late 19th-Century, French painter Claude Monet strove to portray the world as authentically as possible and left a lasting impression…
The painting that gave the Impressionists their name is a beautifully poetic evocation: you can almost feel the chill breeze coming off the water and hear the soft lapping as the boats move, feel the gentle warming of the sun as it burns off the morning mist, laced with the scent of smoggy smoke. French painter, Claude Monet created an impression of what it was like to be there at that time… When we look at this painting, we are standing ‘in the shoes’ of the artist, seeing through their eyes, perhaps sensing some of their feelings about that time and place. As it was in the port of Le Havre on that morning, back in 1873.
The widespread use of photography brought the validity of painting into question. How could painting survive as an art form, surely it was now outmoded? Well, the Impressionists were going to reassert its importance. Photography may show the world ‘accurately’, but capturing an instant of time from a fixed point of view didn’t reflect the human experience of the world.
Painting had far more potential to capture the ‘essence’ of a place and convey the experience of being there. In the moment. Impressionism was…
