Evolution of the Monet Seascape

Life in Paris in the 1860’s was a time of rapid social transformation all of Europe, France in particular. In the midst of such tumult, a young Monet had grown tired of the stale traditional styles of Salon-prescribed orthodoxy. Like many other European artists who wanted their art to both capture and engage the essence of this new age of modernity, he turned instead to the fresh and foreign techniques he found in contemporary Japanese art. Monet began avidly collecting and studying Japanese ukiyo-e landscape prints (or ‘floating world’ prints) and eventually incorporating their styles into their own work. A study of Monet’s earliest Impressionist works shows his fascination with the novelty of Japanese culture—a trend of the day referred to as 'Japonisme'—to have helped him develop much of the stylistic vocabulary through which he would articulate the first forms of Impressionism. 

The Garden at Sainte-Adresse, Claude Monet, 1867

His Garden at Sainte-Adresse — one of his earliest Impressionist seascapes — shows just how much of an influence ukiyo-e landscape print style had on his work. By comparing the style and composition of this piece with elements of several of his later seascapes, we are able to isolate and observe a clear process of development which takes place in Monet’s work over time. Through a time-series comparison of his Impressionist seascapes, the Japonisme inspired flat horizontal bands of bright color, asymmetrical compositions, and contorted and challenging perspectives that dominate his earliest work are found less and less. Instead, we see increasing levels of stylistic independence as time progresses. The slow but sure development of this style which comes to dominate his later works—a style we have come to call Impressionism—then, is both independent of, but also rooted in the radical nature of 19^th Century modernism and the resulting rise of Japonisme influence.

Turban-shell Hall of the Five-Hundred-Rakan 

Temple, Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1830-1835

First, this classic ukiyo-e landscape print gives the most compelling proof that Monet’s Garden at Sainte-Adresse was significantly if not entirely influenced by Japonisme styles. With almost identical viewer vantage-point and compositional format as Monet’s Garden, this print also depicts a group of onlookers —backs to the audience, standing on a railed deck —running flush against the water below, as they overlook a body of water. The similarities with Monet’s Garden continue in its use of brighter colors in the foreground and contrasting darker color palate further back. Hokusai produced this print as part of a series entitled Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji which —much like Monet’s Haystacks (1890-1891) and Water Lilies (1840-1926) series —meticulously catalogs the same seascape capturing it in different lights and seasons.

  

Bathers at La Grenouillère, Claude Monet, 1869

Maintaining at least a roughly similar horizontal banding as his Garden, the dock and sliver of horizon divide create a similar fore, middle, and background sections in a much less dramatic way. Likewise, the bathers create vertical lines remind us of the flag poles that are juxtaposed against the painting’s middle line. However, this piece is noticeable more Impressionist and less Japonisme than the garden. The brushstrokes are flatter and thicker and appear slabbed on top of each other not closely mulled together in the more smooth and flat style as the Garden. There is also a shift in color selection from the Japonisme influenced contrast of the Garden’s bright reds and greens to the well paired cool blues and greens of this piece.

Autumn effect at Argenteuil, Claude Monet, 1873

The use of this piece in the first Impressionist exhibition (1874) by Monet is evidence of his movement away from adoption and imitation of Japonisme and towards independently Impressionist style. While a semi-strong horizon line is still present, little else remains visibly similar between this piece and the Garden seascape. Rather than distinctly horizontal divisions, the strongest lines in this piece are vertical, and are delineated by color making use of the contrast between complementary oranges and blues rather than line. This use of color over line to model forms, along with the clear shift away from what few crisp, naturalistic elements existed in the Garden, and towards a complete gesture based forms makes this seascape a great example of Monet’s progress towards stylistic independence. This piece is far more impressionistic, far more “signature Monet” than The Garden. 

Rocks at low tide, Pourville. Claude Monet, 1882

In Rocks at low tide, Pourville the neat horizontal lines and snapshot feel of the Garden are dashed against the rocks by the painting's  gushing water and incredible sense of motion. Any movement caused by the wind in the otherwise tranquil scene in The Garden is captured, not in the brushstrokes or with the light, but through the passivity of the snapshot depiction: the pulled flag and wind blown dresses. Compared to this passive depiction of motion which is more potential and implied than demonstrated, Monet brings the action of the scape in Rocks at low tide, Pourville to rabid and thunderous life through his rapid curved and overlaid brushstrokes in the water and his depiction of the waves being dashed up against the rocks. Through the choice of primarily white over blue in conjunction with his rhythmic brushstroke style, the water in this piece appears to be about to boil; frothing and churning its way through the crooked maze of rocks. This later seascape has few remaining qualities that associate it with Monet’s approach in The Garden at Sainte-Adresse.

The Manneporte (Etretat), Claude Monet, 1883

Continuing with the shift away from the flat and gridded style of the Japanese prints, Monet’s well known  Manneporte (1883) is far more Impressionist in nature than his Garden. Here, Monet has focused on the movement and energy of the waves by manipulating his brushstrokes and artfully applying light to play of the surface. This work also serves as a great representation of how his other work had progressed since the beginning of his experimentation with Impressionism in the 1860’s. Twenty years after The Garden at Sainte-Adresse, Monet’s seascapes have a far more dynamic and energetic style than his earlier works. Abandoning the crisp, pure colors and contoured figures of Japanese prints, by the 1880's Monet’s lines are rough and thick, the paints both mixed and unmixed are applied swiftly alongside and on top of each other in a way that lends a thickness and density to the mat they create. This painting has a clear upward thrusting motif that the light and brushstrokes convey beautifully.

Curated by: Evan Weir