Bryan Hurtado
Professor Coleman
24 April 2014
Analysis Essay

Revolution Of Art On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt by the French painter Claude Monet is one of the few great paintings that truly embody Impressionism. Claude Monet painted mainly with oil paints and canvas, using very characteristic small strokes and dabs of paint. Many of his paintings transmit a tranquil, soft feeling to the beholder because of this. He generally didn't use strongly contrasting colors or very strong colors. On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt was painted in 1868 on the Seine River in the Northwestern Portion of France. This painting depicts Monet’s future wife, Camille Doncieux, gazing across the Seine River at a village not too far off in the distance. The ability this painting has to capture the eye is amazing and unique, and allows you to fully appreciate the Impressionist Art Movement. The scene that is portrayed here is one of a woman sitting on the grass above banks of the River Seine. The woman’s hat is on her right hand side and both are covered in a patch of shade. To her left hand side is an enormous tree that provides the shade for her and the lawn. The woman is looking away ahead with her back turned towards us. In the river ahead you can see a couple in a small boat rowing down the river. You can also see the reflection of the house in the house in the water that is covered by the trees. This painting has a fresh and relaxed tone/feeling to itself. My initial reaction was impressed. I feel as Claude did an excellent job with the oil. What really impressed me was how was able to put a reflection in the water. There is nothing really new present in his style in this painting. I’ve look at several of paintings from this artist and he’s pretty consistent with his style. If you compare The Seine at Giverny, 1897 and Poplars on the Epte, 1900, to this painting and to each other you can see various similarities in his style and his ability to use dark colors and shade certain areas of his painting as he does in the all three of these paintings. I feel that Claude was trying to portray a rural not urban feel. Claude offers fresh sunlight and air to both the subjects in the painting and the view. From these feelings I believe it gives it a sense of real life or something this painting being an actual real life scene that could have given him the motivation and inspiration to paint this scene.
Techniques that really interest me are oil paints and paintings. The process of oil paintings differs from painter to painter. First thing first, before you begin to do anything you must prepare your surface. Even though some surfaces that a lot of oil painter’s use such as pressed wood, cardboard have been used by many famous artist, canvas as remained the most popular used by all types of oil painters with different types of styles. To prepare your canvas first you need to prepare a wooden frame which is known as a stretcher then the canvas is ready to be pulled across the stretcher and stapled to the back of the stretcher.
The artist most often has mixed his or her own paints for each of their project. Owning the raw pigments and medium was banned. This is when oil paints in tubes became popular. Mixing colors became quicker and easier for artist. Many artists often use a brush to apply the paint. Many brushes are made with different fibers to create different effects. Sizes of brushes can also produce different effects. Many artists have different items such as rags, sponges, or a metal blade called a palette knife to assist them.
Various oil paintings I’ve come across have been painted in layers, well is usually the most common style used by many artists. The first coat that is laid down is called the under painting. The under painting is used to help tone the canvas, and cover the white gesso. The gesso is a primer used in painting and sculpting. Many artist sketch out there composition on this layer. After the under painting dries, an artist may proceed by creating a pattern of color swatches, working first with dark colors then the lightest. Once this is done the colors are blended together when the pattern is completes. The layer is then left to dry before applying all the detail.
After all your paint has dried, then an artist can proceed to apply the glaze to the painting. When glaze is applied to an art work it gives a painting a more oil to paint than the previous layer. Most classical oil paintings have taken weeks or even months to layer the paint. An artist that influenced the reason that oil paintings interest me is the French artist Claude Monet. Monet was extremely eclectic in his subject matter: he painted building, countryside and rural scenes, ocean scenes, and people in a variety of settings, such as gardens. Claude is often referred to the father of impressionism. He used strong brush strokes (
La Grenouillere (The Frog Pond) 1869)

Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali are just a few of the famous artist that help revolutionize the art world. With paintings such as Mona Lisa and the Last Supper were paintings that helped the art world of painting to life. Paintings have been around for as long as 32,000 years. In my generation I strongly believe the use of oils, pastels, acrylic, and water colors have been replaced by advancements of technology to make various types of art. Myself being a person living in the 20th century I can say that most of all the art you see is made on a computer. The creation of cartoons has been a huge advance in art through the use of technology. A cartoon is a form of a two dimensional illustrated visual art. The word cartoon originated in the Middle Ages, which stood for; preparatory drawing of a piece of art (such as a painting). Later in the 19th century it came to refer to humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers. In my generation a cartoon is referred to as comic strips and animated films. There are two styles of cartoons, cartoony and illustrated. These two styles can be distinguished easily. Cartoony would be less human like and more fun styled, while it has a lot of slap stick and childish (Family Guy, Futurama, The Simpsons). While illustrated are in a more serious style, more human like and having heavier detail. (Batman, Superman, Spiderman). We live in an era where technology has taking over the way we create art. Canvas and oil paints, and pastels are being replaced by a mouse and keyboard. A famous program used to make art through the use of technology is called Photoshop. Photoshop has been a part of ever web designer’s life since they picked up their first mouse. Photoshop can be used for many reasons: to color correct your digital images, you can brand new images painting or drawing them with drawing tools. Many upcoming artists use this software to their advantage. Martin Murphy and Steve Burke are just two of my favorite digital design artist. We live in a world where technology is advancing tremendously, which is changing art industry.

Over the years I’ve learned that art is usually about self-expression. An artist’s self-expression can help others because there are always people who feel the same way but cannot express themselves the way they want. The artist intends to portray encouragement, purpose, and excitement about the art expressed. When artist develop art they are trying to make some sort of statement. No matter how simple the statement may seem the artist is trying to communicate an idea, an emotion, or purpose in their work. Art’s contribution to our society has been endless. But from what I understand and have seen on the internet and in different galleries doesn’t seem to reflect the average person on the street. We make art because there is something creative inside a person that needs to be let out. The poet musician, actor, and visual artist all have a desire to express what they feel and to create something of great value. Some see art as a type of therapy or a form of meditation. Others do art for the pure joy and satisfaction.

Sources: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/81539 http://arteducationstation.wikispaces.com/Process http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet http://www.monetclaudemonet.com/sum4.aspx http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_techniques_did_Claude_Monet_use_to_paint http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_painting http://www.oilpaintingwithethan.com/94/oil-painting/oil-painting-process-how-was-that-painting-made/#.UMkLYoPs4rg http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=215x45641
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting