Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil by Claude Monet

Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil The following is an analysis and an interpretation of Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil. This oil on canvas painting can be found in the High Museum of Art. Claude Monet, the artist of this piece painted this in 1873, right as the Impressionism Movement was beginning. Monet played the important role of one of the founders of the Impressionism Movement with his works like Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil. Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil is from a series of paintings that Monet did while in Argenteuil. In the artwork Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil, the lighting used throughout the painting, brushstroke techniques, perspective, and color all play an important role in the piece, as well as in the Impressionism Movement. Impressionist artists attempted to capture candid shots of their subjects outdoors showing the effects of sunlight on different objects at different times of day. Claude Monet was no exception to this statement. Like in Claude Monet’s Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (in Sun) (Garnier, 824), sunlight is an important part in scene created in Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil, though is not the real subject of the piece like it is in Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (in Sun). In Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil, Claude Monet used darker hues of the colors to capture the light and the absence of light throughout the painting. The sun itself cannot be seen, but the intensity of the colors orange, yellow, white, green, and red throughout the tree suggest that there is some sunlight present. The sky is spotted with clouds almost to the point where you can’t see the sky, but there is some blue still seen through the clouds. Monet was obviously wanting to capture the essence of the Autumn season, and did so with the right use of lighting that would not have been possible without the brushstrokes Monet used. The brushstrokes that are used throughout a painting can help classify what movement the painting may have came out of. Impressionist painters created a distinctive short, choppy brushstroke to create better lighting. In painting Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil, Monet uses this technique all over the canvas. At close inspection, the colors red, white, yellow and blue placed side by side looked unintelligible as they are placed throughout the trees on the left side of the painting. At a distance, however, the colors begin to mix into different variations of orange, green, yellow, white, blue, and red, making the palette more interesting. This technique is used on the entire painting. The water’s reflection of the trees uses the same technique. Like in Claude Monet’s first major Impressionism painting, Impression: Sunrise (Garnier, 823), the painting Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil also uses the brushy strokes. Both use a body of water’s reflection in the piece, making the water itself more interesting, and giving Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil perspective. The technique most artists use to project an illusion of the three-dimensional world onto a two-dimensional surface is called perspective. Objects are painted smaller the farther away from the audience is supposed to be, and are painted bigger the closer the audience is supposed to be. A vanishing point is helpful in creating perspective. This technique helps to make up a sense of depth in a piece of art. In Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil, perspective is created by the body of water that is in the foreground of painting. This body of water is going off into the distance in which you cannot see it’s end. In the background, there are buildings that are barely visible, making them appear to be farther away. This technique draws the audience’s eye to the center of the piece, perhaps at the building that is set of into the distance. Color has value, hues, and intensities that differ from piece to piece. Color can also be broken down into color schemes. Color is always a very important part to any work of art. Impressionism painters usually only used the primary colors blue, red, and yellow in their works, like Monet did in Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil. They did this so they could place the primary colors side by side to create secondary colors like the greens and oranges seen in the trees in Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil. This technique was used because Impressionists believed that color is not a permanent characteristic and changes due to weather, lighting, or reflection, which is true in this painting as the leave are all changing colors. The color of the water in Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil effects the colors of the reflections of the trees, boats, and buildings very little. Impressionism paintings have an overall luminosity because the painters avoided blacks and earth colors. Shadows in the painting are composed of many complimentary colors, like on the sides of the boats on the left side of the water in Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil. Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil by Claude Monet was interesting and very tranquil to analysis and an interpret. This oil on canvas painting can be found in the High Museum of Art, but was originally painted in 1873 in France, right as the Impressionism Movement was beginning. Monet played the important role of one of the founders of the Impressionism Movement with his works like Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil. In the artwork Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil, the lighting used throughout the painting, brushstroke techniques, perspective, and color all play an important role in the piece, as well as in the Impressionism Movement. Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil is an amazing work of art that will not soon be forgotten by its many adoring fans.