The Eye of The Beholder

Claude Monet was a French painter who is the forefather of the artistic movement known as Impressionism. Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise, even gave the movement its name. Monet is most well known for his paintings of water lilies and other paintings of his carefully manicured garden at his house in Giverny, France. The artist unfortunately began to develop cataracts in his eyes in his late 60s (around 1909.) These cataracts and the following eye surgeries majorly affected Monet’s painting as his whole perspective changed. Monet was incredibly hesitant to get eye surgery as he had heard of it going badly with other artists Honoré Daumier and Mary Cassatt. He continued work with his cataracts getting ever more obstructive. He had to label his paints so as to not get them confused. Monet stated  “I prefer to make the most of my poor sight, and even give up painting if necessary, but at least be able to see a little of these things that I love.” In 1922, Monet attempted to fix his eyesight without surgery Monet obtained mydriatics from his doctor which for a temporary time did in fact help his eyesight. He said this about the effects of his eye drops “The drops have permitted me to paint good things rather than the bad paintings which I had persisted in making when seeing nothing but fog.” But that medicine soon lost its effect and in 1923, Monet eventually did get surgery after much urging from his doctor. Following this surgery Monet’s paintings began to once again look like his original style, showing us just how much of an effect his cataracts had on his work.

Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies, Claude Monet, 1899, Medium: Oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, U.S, 29.100.113

The bridge over the pond in Monet’s garden in Giverny is the object of many of the master's paintings. This painting, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is one of Monet’s earlier representations. Painted well before Monet began developing cataracts, this work uses a wide variety of colors and depicts a coherent and understandable scene. The atmosphere is light and peaceful. There are identifiable objects and an understandable scene.

The Japanese Bridge, Claude Monet, Date: 1918-1919, Oil on canvas, Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris, France

Believe it or not this is a painting of the exact same bridge. However this was painted almost twenty years after Bridge Over Pond of Waterlilies, when Monet’s cataracts were in full effect. We hardly see any colors, mostly blacks and whites. The image is much more distorted and hard to understand. If you were not aware what this was an image of before looking at it then you might not ever make the connection between the two paintings. The effect of the painting here is more jarring and uncomfortable. Perhaps a reflection of Monet’s mood towards his situation.

Water Lilies, Claude Monet, 1897-1899, Oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY, US

Here we have a closer look at some of the water lilies in Monet’s pond. We see in this painting from before Monet’s issues with cataracts lots distinguishable shades and understandable objects. The painting has a slightly blue hue and again the effect of the painting is serene and pleasant. We see Monet’s finely trained eye mixing and layering various shades of blue to create his ideal color for his water lilies. He also uses yellows brilliantly to add a little bit of contrast in the flower of the lily.

Water Lilies, Claude Monet, 1914 - 1926, Oil on canvas, Private collection

This painting was started before the worst effects of Monet’s cataracts had set in and was continually painted until well after the effects had worsened. It serves as one of the only combinations of Monet’s styles. We see obvious notes of the blue hue his original work had along with more easily discernible objects paired with the yellow tint of the midway state of his ailment. We also see the objects in painting move more towards indistinguishable globs as we move towards the left side of the painting.

Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918, Oil on canvas, Private Collection

This painting was made during the twilight of Monet’s failing eyesight. He still sees colors but he sees them through a yellowish tint caused by his cataracts. He depicts a weeping willow tree near the edge of the pond in his garden at Giverny. The form of the tree is still disguisable. We can see individual leaves and branches along with water lilies and reflections in the pond underneath the tree.

Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1921-1922,  Oil on canvas,  Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris, France

Here we have a painting of one of Monet’s weeping Willows at Giverny. The artist’s cataracts have fully set in and it is difficult for him to paint a distinction between colors on his palette in order to create the depth necessary for the viewer to distinguish the object being portrayed. It ends up being a muddy clump of colors in the rough shape of a tree, and yet somehow still beautiful.