Winter with Monet

        The Impressionist style of painting landscapes began in Paris during the 1860s. This form of painting became known as plenair, meaning “to be in the air" or “the act of painting outside”. Many of the artists during this time shared interests in painting the effects of: clouds of fog, the pillowy blankets of snow, shimmering light reflecting on the surface of rivers, to much broader landscapes. The majority of the artworks produced during this time depicted the mundane and ordinary scenes of nature. However, the growing philosophy of the effects of weather and light, the artist’s representations change the perception of the scene. Claude Monet’s fascination with creating landscape paintings based on the times of day or seasonal conditions can be found in his paintings of various nature scenes affected by winter’s touch. Through his eyes we explore a new perspective of these “colorless” seasons. He develops a harmonious use of warm and cool hues to create texture and varied color values. Paintings like the Haystacks (Effect of Sun and Snow), Skaters at Giverny, The Road to Giverny in Winter, and others included in this curation illustrate how Monet employs color and light to bring forth life in the dead of winter.

Haystacks (Effect of Sun and Snow) 

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Ca. 1891 

Medium: oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

  In the later years of his life, Claude Monet produced a series of paintings which depict the different times of day and seasons on a single landscape scene. In this painting, two lonely haystacks with a light dusting of snow are sitting in the middle of an open field. The soft blended colors of cool periwinkles and muted pinks help illustrate Monet’s perception of how sunlight reflects on the surface of snow. To contrast the haziness of the background and foreground of this wintry scene; Monet employs the use of warm ogre yellows and intricate dash-like brush strokes to make the haystacks the focal point of his composition.

Skaters at Giverny 

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Ca. 1899

Medium: oil on canvas 

Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany

In this painting, Monet finds himself in the northern part of France looking outward on a frozen lake in the middle of Giverny. The glistening icy surface takes up a large portion of the canvas with alternating streaks of cool light blues and bright peach hues. Monet also depicts how the sun casts shadows of the trees and the people skating are reflected atop the ice. The color hues found in the trees also create balance with the blending of dark purples and specks of a warm red. 

The Road to Giverny in Winter 

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Ca. 1885 

Medium: oil on canvas 

Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany 

In The Road to Giverny in Winter, Monet employs a muted and de-saturated color palette of warm and dark hues in his depiction of this pathway frosted with snow. The dash-like brush strokes of dark indigo against the lightly muted pink create textured implied lines creating a sense of movement along the road. The viewer’s gaze is drawn inwardly leading them to the little house and the end. To contrast against the cool hues from the path and cloudless blue sky the trees are a mixture of ogre yellow, dark red, orange, and brown. This allows the foliage to stand out from under its frozen blanket. 

Coming into Giverny in Winter, Sunset

Claude Monet (1840- 1926)

Ca. 1885

Medium: oil on canvas 

Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany

Coming into Giverny in Winter, Sunset, is a demonstration of how Monet’s perception of winter encourages the viewer to use their imagination. Instead of using a cool color palette of indigos and violets, Monet chooses to employ highly saturated and warm colors to dominate the entirety of the painting. The sun’s fading light illuminates the sky with bright light pinks and yellows. The paint lines along the path are a similar blend of pinks with the smallest sports of indigo and red. Compared to the lighter colors in the sky and path, the darker value of lapis blue roofs of the houses and the deep purple with scarlet reds in the trees makes them contrast with the foreground and background.

Mount Kolsaas in Sunlight 

Claude Monet (1840-1926) 

Ca. 1895 

Medium: oil on canvas

Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, France and Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway (replicas, the original is privately owned). 

    Mount Kolsaas is another object Monet decides to cycle through his stylistic ideals of how landscapes are affected by the time of day and the season. As the sun shines on the lightly snow dusted mountain, an array of colors are being portrayed. If the viewer was to be face to face with the painting, they would notice each blot of paint not only creates a visual texture, but a physical texture as well. Each individual speck of pink, indigo, and red layered on top of the ogre brown emulating how the sun gleams upon the snow capped mountain.

Houses in the Snow, Norway

Claude Monet (1840-1926) 

Ca. 1895

Medium: oil on canvas

Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado. 

Frederic C. Hamilton Collection

The painting, Houses in the Snow, Norway, Monet blurs the horizon line merging the open sky with the mounds of snow on the ground. He balances the painting by using brush strokes of lavender purple, peach orange, and muted pinks in both the background and foreground. Centered in the deep space of the painting, two lonely little chocolate brown cottages are being enveloped by layers of snow. The employment of the darker color hues and clear detailing of the houses allows them to stand out in the midst of the blizzard.