Impressionism: Chilam Lau talks on Claude Monet's Sunrise, 1872

Title: Impression, Sunrise

Artist: Claude Monet

Year: 1872

Material: oil on canvas 

Dimension: 48 cm × 63 cm

                                                                         Draft Essay

Introduction

Impression, Sunrise is a painting by Claude Monet, which hung at its first exhibition in 1874. At that time, most visitors were disgusted and even claimed that they were unable to recognize what was shown at all. Art critic Louis Leroy derisively used the term “Impressionistic,” from the title of this painting, to describe Monet’s works. It gave rise to the name of the Impressionist movement.

It is different from the the expression of emotion in Romanticism or the truthful and representation of the real world clearly in Realism, ordinary things of life is the main depicted object in Impressionism. In traditional painting, artists used to draw the objects based on the inherent color, therefore the dark color tone was the mainly color tendency. But for the Impressionism, the artists focus on capturing the visual impression and the pursuit of color change of light. They wanted to capture the transient effects and momentary of sunlight on the object by using visible brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed color to portray the shading and outline to achieve an effect of intense color transient. As Monet said:〝Landscape is nothing but an impression, and an instantaneous one.〞 

Historical Background

For the historical background, the subject of this painting is the harbour of Le Havre in France. After the Franco-Prussian War from 1870-1871, France began its recovery from the war, art was to play an important role in the revitalization.

According to an article published in Oxford Art, it mentioned that “The Impressionists’ subjects of the 1870s gave no hint of the destruction of the war. In celebrating the French countryside and the new face of Paris, they, like other citizens, seemed to be interested in putting the national humiliation behind them.” Monet had a heavy engagement with the revitalization of french pride and spirit. At the time of Impression, Sunrise’s creation, Le Havre harbor was the site of many of the city’s largest and most important industries. The sunrise represents the post-war recovery of France and the hope.

The haziness in Impression, Sunrise is not only due to the morning mists of the channel, but also to the emissions produced by factories and steam ships. The construction site include cranes and heavy machinery is neatly located between the rising sun and its reflections, as if this orange sun is rising represent the promises of a new day and the renewed hope is enhancing.

 Analyze

The features of Impressionist painting include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes without modification, open and boundless composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light and its changing qualities. It focuses on the ordinary subject matter, the sensation and experience produced by the landscape and unusual visual angles are the crucial elements.

The subject of painting is the early morning sun depicted is rising over the foggy harbor. This painting show the key features of Impressionist art, include the unusual viewpoint and open composition, the visible brushstrokes, and distinct application of color. Those elements constituted the preoccupation with capturing the fleeting appearance of light and the surface appearance of reality in Impression, Sunrise.  

First, the viewpoint and composition of Impression, Sunrise is simple, borderless and unusual, which created the sensation and atmosphere. Monet choose a direct perception of scene –the sunrise view of Le Havre harbor to express his sensation and the experience of the world around him, which also is the best suits the play of light, shadow and coloring of nature in front of him. For the composition, Monet used the construction site, three boats and the ripple constitute a triangular composition. And the construction site as a structuring element in the back, but the diagonally arranged boats creates the spatial distance. Due to achieve the atmospheric effect and capture the constant change of light, the most important thing of composition is to create the sense of space and impression.

Second, the pure and intense colors affected by variations in lighting create a momentary effect of light, atmosphere or movement in this painting. As the mentioned by “Monet- Nature into art”, “color was rooted in one particular approach to the relationship between nature and color…form and space should instead be suggested by contrasts and variations of color”. Monet incorporates mostly cool, dull colors into the painting with blues and grays, but also includes the warm colors noticed in the sky and the red-orange sun.  This noticeably bright color draws attention to the main focus of the sun and the dark color of the nearest boat also capture the sight of spectators. Monet mixed large amounts of lead white to express the natural light. Therefore, the dark and shape color contrary to the cool tone of seawater.  In addition, the clouds and sea are colored by the rising sun. Colors are placed side by side in the sky and water portions of the painting, but seem mix together at the same time. The colors change from bright to light and the greys are tinged with blues which shows transient of the natural light in the misty sky. Then, the dense mist, the boats, the distant buildings, cranes, ships, boom only take shape colored by blue. It seems like those objects were mixed as whole with sky and sea. In addition, the light pink and orange sunlight into the whole picture creates a realistic picture with natural light, the rich atmospheric effects and a particular moment in time.

Finally, Monet used juxtaposed and visible brushstrokes making up a perspective space or hierarchies of forms. To quote Monet’s word:〝When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever, merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives you your own naive impression of the scene before you. The brushstrokes are equally important as integral to the whole scene. The smaller, more fragmented brushstrokes quickly capture the essence of the subject without focusing on any detail of the scene, such as the darker brushstrokes in water create motion, and ripples, while hints of orange, lead white and light pink appear as the reflection of the sunrise in the sea. And he used the blue brushstrokes to draw the silhouettes of the boats, buildings and construction site to create a looming feeling. That looks like messy brushstrokes suggests the protean and harmony nature.

The content is the most important elements of traditional art works, such as the classical focus on religious and historical themes; Romanticism often based on the literary stories and exotic; Realism trying to depict an event associated with the society. But the main pursuit of impressionism is the light change and the effect of intense color transient; the plot is not much interest.

In Impression, Sunrise, it just depicted a simple scene of sunrise. I care how to draw, the art forms, how the color and lines can create a visual impression and excitement, the sensation for the spectators and the artist instead of its contents and what it is painting. The focus shifted to a purely visual experience to me in this painting. The effect of intense color transient and the atmospheric effects created by Impression, Sunrise seems brings me to that moment to appreciate the rising sun on the harbor.  

Because the performance of impressionist painter is not an object itself, but the light changes in the objects and their impressions and feelings. Therefore even from the same viewpoint, different artists may have different expressing way toward the objects, it is interesting to appreciate unique angel for this painting.

Conclusion

Impression, Sunrise as the first magnum opus of Impressionism, Monet successfully captured predecessors ignored or considered impossible to render the impression with a painting. No longer limited to fixed and eternal landscape, but also including the objects’ momentary visual appearance by the transient effects.

As Robert Herbert has shown, this painting is a recreation of visual experience in terms of relationship of color and surface pattern, replacing the perspective structure and sharp tonal contrasts of traditional landscape. Impressionism is the starting point for the traditional art of turning to modern art, and Impression, Sunrise play an important role on it.

Question:

1.      There are numerous vertical elements can be found throughout this hazy landscape such as the Cranes and heavy machinery. Someone said it can balance the composition with horizontal brushstrokes in the sky and water portions; but someone said it just capture the natural moment. What do you think about this?

2.      Someone said Impression, Sunrise is lack of concern with composition, do you agree about that?

References：
1. THE FIRST IMPRESSIONIST EXHIBITION AND MONET'S IMPRESSION, SUNRISE: A TALE OF TIMING, COMMERCE AND PATRIOTISM.
Tucker, Paul, Art History. Dec84, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p465-476. 16p.

2. Impression, Sunrise by Monet – Facts & History of the Painting
      http://totallyhistory.com/impression-sunrise/

1.      The first Impressionist exhibition and Monet's "Impression, Sunrise": a tale of timing, commerce and patriotism

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ed9d0303-2ebd-483f-acf1-a9ff7c3ba5ca%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4204

2.      <Monet-Nature into art> John House, Yale University Press

 New Haven And London

3.      Oxford Art Online, Impressionism

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ed9d0303-2ebd-483f-acf1-a9ff7c3ba5ca%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4204 (The first Impressionist exhibition and Monet's "Impression, Sunrise": a tale of timing, commerce and patriotism)www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T040015?q=monet+sunrise&search=quick&pos=12&_start=1#firsthit

4.      Claude Monet: Impressionism's leading light, Stuckey, Charles F USA Today 124.2606 (Nov 1995): 36.

http://search.proquest.com/docview/214580971?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=12107