Landscape: The Parc Monceau, Claude Monet, 1876
The Landscape: The Parc Monceau by Claude Monet presents a scene of a garden or part of a garden with little expression that humans are around. There are mostly trees in the painting and a slightly hidden building towards the left of the painting. There are silhouettes of people, however these silhouettes are not as noticeable as the big trees. It may even take time for the viewer to even notice these silhouettes as well as the birds in the upper right corner of the painting. The horizon line is low, and the curved shadows give an illusion of a hill. It is almost a scene that anyone can be in and reminds me of another technique called Pointillism art. Since Monet only painted in quick dashes or dots and the overlapping similar colors. It gave the impression of a whole and completed painting from afar. When looking closely at the painting you can see more of the quick dots and makes the painting look strange because of the overlapping of different colors. For instance, many would expect longer lines and clear blending within colors, but this painting showcases that there was no need for blending since the quick dashes and overlapping of colors made it all blend together.
Understanding that there was no need to blend or at least seemed to have spent little to no time with blending it made me think that this may have been experimentation. The composition also brings in where the viewer sees the trees first and can overlook small details. Such as the silhouettes, birds, clouds, shadows, the building towards the left and even where the viewer is standing in. However, the building on the left is next to where the viewer is drawn to, so it is easier to spot due to the biggest bush on the canvas. This work is interesting with the painting techniques and also how lights/shadows are being portrayed. Seeing this painting for the first time brought amazement and beauty to my eyes. I’ve never been captivated by a painting as much as this one before. It made me realize I enjoy more scenes of nature, especially trees. The display of lights through shadows also made me think more about how light is displayed in real life as well. However, the dotted dashes/dots changed my perspective on the painting in a negative way. Upon closer inspection made me realize that there was so much color on the painting that it wasn’t entirely blended but from afar looked blended which was a weird change to experience.
Van Gogh even commented on his brushstroke work and lighting. He called it “rich and daring”. Monet studied light and flower shrubs which are greatly shown in Landscape: The Parc Monceau and even in Apple Trees in Bloom. These works were able to showcase his separation of his choices and with art techniques.
Bibliography:
Cooper, Douglas. “The Monets in the Metropolitan Museum.” Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 3, 1970, pp. 281–305. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1512608. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
