My reaction of the film of Monet

I chose Claude Monet because I was impressed by one of his work, ‘The Haystacks’. After I watched this film, I noticed how hard an artist experienced in pursuing his goal. Monet devoted his life time to art, in observing the lights and the relationship it had which the surroundings. I appreciated Monet as he continued his career even though he had poverty. Although he was not accepted with his new style of painting at first, he did not give up. He believed in his way of seeing painting and his life. His enthusiasm never cooled. I admired his faith and this was what I need to learn from him.

The impressionist: Monet

This film is about Claude Monet and his works. He was already a cartoonist when he was 15 and decided to be an artist. Then he started to work in France, in a salon. He was a student of Charles Gleyre and learnt the academic traditions which were about the historical events and copying from the master pieces in the past. Also, he was an outdoor painter so that he could experience the feelings that could only be experienced when he saw the objects. His subject matter was life, landscapes and nature. He used strong brush strokes and vivid, unmixed colors to show the effects and changes of light. He usually used primary and complementary colors. At first, this kind of painting was rejected by some artists in Paris. He work was given term ‘impressionism’. Although he succeeded in the experiment of light, he had a poor life. After he got married, he had no money to support his family. However, he continued his career. He and his wife painted together. They worked on the light and shadows, and started to use others colors, besides black and brown, for shadows. He painted series painting by painting the same objects from several points of view and in different seasons, and experienced the light between him and the objects. He last painting was the ‘Water Lilies’ depicting the lilies in his garden. The style in this painting changed from naturalistic and realistic to abstract, and moved the subject matter away from representational work.

AIC

The Art appreciation class gave me one more opportunity to visit the Art Institute. My family and I visit the institute in August. However, at that time, I did not know much about the artists and their artworks. I just walked passed the different galleries and admired those attracted me. This time, I knew more about the artists' intention, and I was eagered to take a look at the great artworks. Although I only had limited time, I could focused on the main works of art in the institute, including the fantastic gallery of Vincent Van Gogh, Picasso, etc. I also learned a lot from the presentation that others did. They were all attentive and could get the main ideas from the paintings. We all had our unique opinions towards the paintings. I started to think deeper than just see it as a painting and try to get what the artists tried to tell the audience. This visit was useful, and I enjoyed it.