Adrianna Crow

Janet Fotu, Instructor

Art 1020-06
19 January 2015
Claude Monet
Monet was born during November of 1840. He was never very interested in his
indoor studies, he much prefered being outdoors. When he turned 19 he moved to Paris
to pursue a career in art. He enrolled in the Academie Sussie where made many friends
and learned a lot until he served in the military. While away at war Monet met Johann
Barthold Jongkind who was also a painter. He greatly influenced Monet along with many
other young artists with skills involving painting landscapes.

During his earlier stages of working Monet collaborated with many other well
known artists including Camille Pissarro. It is she who Monet later ended up marrying.
In 1868 just after their first child was born the family was plagued with financial debts.
On top of that unfortunately Monet became very depressed and lacked confidence in
both himself and his work. All of these complications in his life began consuming him
and Monet attempted to commit suicide by drowning himself. Lucky it didnt work and so
he grew old creating beautiful artwork for people to enjoy full heartedly.
Monet created so many beautiful paintings. He worked very hard to make
amazing pieces of artwork, most of which were landscapes. Although he also tried to

create portraits his landscapes were the most impressive of his art pieces. So many
people, myself included, like to look at those better. One of those beautiful pieces of art
is the painting known as Water Lilies.

In the bulk of Monets paintings he used oil pastels as his medium, this one
included. Monet had a very gifted way of creating brushstrokes and mixing colors. In
fact Monet is very commonly referred to as the master of light and color. He was
paired with another very distinguished group of artists known as the Impressionists.
Impressionism was an artistic movement that lasted during most of the 19th-century
however it is most acknowledgable during the 1870s and 1880s. Impressionism is
greatly associated with artists that used small, thin brushstrokes lines, with an emphasis
on light features.

Monet took a lot of pride in his landscapes. During the later half of his life he
become more troubled by financial issues and his wife fell very ill during her second
pregnancy. The entire family went away from their home to live with a close family
friend. However, that family consisted of two parents and six children. This made it so
that people were often crowded and irritable. Fortunately Monet found escape in the
outdoors and that is why we have so many of his beautiful paintings to look at today.
For the rest of this paper I would like to talk about my personal feelings towards
Monets art, this painting in particular. After learning all of the logistics of the painting I
found a new liking for it. Although I already loved the painting it created all new eyes for
me when I discovered the movement that it was associated with. As I mentioned before
Monet was part of what is known as the Impressionist movement. This was a very
distinct class of artist who used thin, defined brushstrokes and paid significant attention
to details especially in light.
I like this painting for a multitude of reasons. I like this painting firstly because
although it looks real, it doesnt look to real. The tiny, intricate brushstrokes create a
very delicate image. Its interesting how you can see all of the brushstrokes so clearly. It
adds a new sense of life and depth into the image. Monet did multiple paintings using
this same technique and he was most commonly known for his painting water lilies;
hence the name of the artwork.
I absolutely love water lilies. I think that they hold a sense of innocence and
purity and beauty. Monet does an absolutely fantastic job of capturing that innocence
and purity and beauty. The way that he depicts the water lilies floating on the water and
the visual that he holds of the reflection on the water is so very impressive. I wish that I
had the ability to paint in such a fascinating way as he has. I love the way he uses
impressionism to show the tiny brushstrokes of the his artwork to had depth and life into
his image.
Throughout the duration of this class Ive learned that I am capable of doing
anything that I want in reference to my artwork. I used to think that I was not very good
at art so I didnt do much with it. I didnt draw, paint or even color. Now I feel as though I
could create artwork that is just as good as Monet. Recently, in fact, I have decided that
I will do further study of Monets work and work to being just as good as he is with a

paintbrush and good oil paints. Frankly, my only regret is that I do not live in the
impressionist time period, where I could have met the great artist, Monet.