Friday a friend and I went to an exhibit at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. The exhibit was "Monet - The Early Years" and encompassed his paintings from 1858 - 1872.
He put in the work to find his style.
Would you ever think that these two paintings were painted by Claude Monet?
The card for the above painting read "the still life was the rainy day activity for plein air painters"
This painting is a detail from the two huge canvases that depicts an outdoor luncheon. The dappled light just brings you eye around and around the paintings.
His snow scene's were brilliant. My very favorite painting of his (the one directly about) brought tears to my eyes - The Magpie. Even though it looks like a pretty basic snow scene, there is so much soft color in this painting.
And his depiction of water during these early years shows where he was style was heading.
A
B
C
D
Can you match the water details in the paintings above with the paintings below?
B
D
C
A
And check out a close up of the "people" in the above painting.
Two are headless and one mans pants are not attached to his upper half!
And does this even matter when you look at the entire painting? Not to me as I enjoyed the energy of the painting, the movement in the water, the colors, the brushstrokes and the feeling that it evokes.
"The Beach at Trouville"
His people in these scenes are just "suggestions"!
Another favorite of mine was borrowed from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC for this show and is titled "Argenteuil".
I loved the show and I loved seeing so many paintings of Claude Monet that I have never seen before!
Now you are probably wondering .....
"Why did she name this post - Oscar?"
I never knew.....now we both do!
And I still say that Brandon Crawford looks a lot like Oscar!!!
"Everyday I discover more and more beautiful things.
It's enough to drive one mad.
I have such a desire to do everything,
my head is bursting with it."
--Claude Monet
