Impression: Sunrise

by Claude Monet
Joseph Daniels

Aaron Gosser

Intro to Art

30 November 2019
 Within the time period of the late 1800s, impressionism began to grow rampant

especially in Paris. Artists beginning to go against the norm and focus on the modern. Artist

Claude Monet was no exception to this movement. His painting titled Impressionism, sunrise is

an amazing example of this. The way he captures the movement and color of light through this

painting is beautiful. Through minimal brush strokes, he was able to convey the warm refreshing

feeling of a morning sunrise.

Monet began sketches for the piece while on vacation, he sketched the first drafts as he

was looking out of his window and noticed an odd lighting effect occurring with the waters of

the port of Le Harvre that morning. Monet painted the official piece at the age of 32 in the year

1872. But then proceeded to exhibit his piece in 1874 in a series involving two other paintings of

the port at Le Harvre at the 1874 “Exhibition of impressionists.”

Monet’s painting sparked a revelation in the art of that time. Though Monet as well as

many other artists of his time had begun painting in this style. This one Monet painting is said to

have been the start of the official impressionist movement. This also led Monet to be known as

the Father of impressionism.

The term impressionism came about because of Monet’s piece. The critic who visited the

exhibition of impressionists, Louis Leroy made a comment in his post in the newspaper Le

Charivari, stating "Impression I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was

impressed, there had to be some impression in it — and what freedom, what ease of

workmanship! A preliminary drawing for a wallpaper pattern is more finished than this

seascape.”
 Leroy originally used the term as a sort of mocking of the style of Monet’s painting. But

he as well as the other artists quickly adopted the term. Impressionism became what it is now

known for.

The backstory behind this painting goes all the way back to 1840, Claude Monet was

born in Paris, France. But then moved to the small portside town of Le Havre when he was only

five years old. Monet continued to grow up in Le Havre for the rest of his childhood which led to

him developing a love for the location and the scenery in held.

Monet began dabbling in oil paints in 1856 under the influence and mentorship of another

fellow future impressionist, Eugène Boudin. During this time he began painting one of his

famous paintings, En Plein Air, also known as “outdoors”

In 1861 Monet developed his taste for light and color when he was drafted to Algeria in

North Africa for military service. He brought this taste back to France with him where he

incorporated this into many more of his paintings including impression: sunrise.

Monet rejected the typical ideologies of his time and completely revamped the style of

painting in France. Monet’s style shifted 19th-century art and Impression: Sunrise was the

painting that changed it all.

Monet’s painting now sits at an art display entirely dedicated to him which sits in the city

of Louis-Boilly in Paris, France. The display is titled Musée Marmottan Monet translated into the

Monet Marmottan Museum.

The painting depicts the port of Le Havre at the time of dawn. When Monet painted this

piece he was on vacation back home over Holiday. While on vacation he painted six other

paintings that depict the port of Le Havre at several different times of the day. These times being

daytime, night time, sunset, and dawn. Monet’s painting especially differs from typical paintings,
because any average artist would have focused on the ephemeral effect of the sunlight across the

water, having sharp differentiation between the sky and the water as well as the silhouettes of the

ships in the foreground is very prominent. Monet instead almost blends these elements together

making them appear as a sort of haze having all the focus of the painting put on the sun and the

way it reflects upon the water.

The medium Monet uses for this piece is oil on canvas which he used for all of his pieces.

Because he used this specific medium, we are able to see every minute brushstroke which he

orchestrated within the piece. Oil on canvas was a good decision to use as he was able to get

good solid colors to pop out. This aided in making the orange of the sun and it’s light to come

out through the haze.

As depicted well in many other of Monet’s works, the way he uses visible brushstrokes is

unique to him and his pieces.

I chose Impression: Sunrise because I’ve always enjoyed the Impressionists’ sort of

abstract style, one of the characteristics that really struck me about the piece is the vibrancy of

the sun in the background. To me it really makes it pop and the use of the orange tint really

portrays the time of day in the piece. I enjoyed studying and researching this piece a lot and it

even helped me learn more about the rising impressionist movement.

Claude Monet was a brilliant artist and Impression: Sunrise does not disprove. He defied

what was normal for his time which led to creating an entire movement around his style of work.

Impression: Sunrise is a beautiful piece that shall continue to influence generations of artists to

come.

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http://totallyhistory.com/impression-sunrise/ accessed 30 November 2019

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monet.com/impression-sunrise.jsp accessed 30 November 2019

Dan Scott “A Closer Look at Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet” Draw Paint Academy 28

March 2019 https://drawpaintacademy.com/impression-sunrise/ accessed 30 November 2019

History.com Editors “impressionism” History 21 August 2018

https://www.history.com/topics/art-history/impressionism Accessed 30 November 2019

Kelly Richman-Abdou “How This One Painting Sparked the Impressionist Movement” My

Modern Met 7 July 2019 https://mymodernmet.com/claude-monet-impression-sunrise/ accessed

30 November 2019

Marion Boddy Evans “Palettes and Techniques of the Impressionist Claude Monet” Live About

10 September 2018 https://www.liveabout.com/impressionist-masters-palettes-techniques-

claude-monet-2578614 accessed 30 November 2019