FREE ESSAY ON MONET

MONET

On a Sunday morning I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I saw many amazing,
interesting and beautiful paintings and sculptures. As I was walking around, I spotted a
painting by Claude Oscar Monet. This painting was called Terrace at Sainte-Adresse, which
is also known as the Garden at Sainte-Adresse. Since I was so interested in this painting
scenery, I approached someone who worked there and asked questions about it.
Claude Monet was the best-known painter of the French Impressionist Era. He was
particularly remembered for his water garden painting. The Terrace at Sainte- Adresse was
painted in the summer of 1867 in the family house. He painted this view from one of the
upstairs rooms. This painting made me think of happiness and serenity. The first thing
that Terrace at Sainte-Adresse spotted my eye was Jeanne Marguerite Lecadre's white
dress. Her white dress looks luminous among the red geraniums looking out toward the
Atlantic Ocean. Jeanne Marguerite Lecadre is in conversation with a young man wearing a
black hat and a black suit.
The man seated is Monet's father, seen in three quarter views as the viewer, seeming as
it was to look over his shoulder. I've noticed that there is abundance of flowers on the
terrace that Monet's love of flowers seems to be reminding himself of the connection
between pictures and making the painting almost look realistic. The painting reflects in
its articulation of the sea, sky, the flowerbeds, his family members and the flags
against the glittering backdrop of the sea. The painting appears composed and almost
looking realistic and dreamy. His Aunt Sophie Lecadre, sitting right next to his father
Adolphe Monet, is sitting holding her white umbrella. She seems like she is represented
with respect as she over looks the Atlantic Ocean.
The Terrace at Sainte-Adresse where Monet enjoys the breezy scene in front of him has a
nice sunny day where someone can see lots of shadows. In front of him as a picture,
framed by the two flagpoles that carve the view into a rectangle. The two French flags
blowing in the wind dominated the picture and separated the three horizontal bands of the
painting, the terrace, the sea, and the clear sky with very little cotton clouds that
provided the vertical balance. The design itself is totally peculiar, with the faces of
the people turned away from the viewer.
Many boats and ships can be seen in the background. When Monet painted a sea populated
with boats, he was working in a well-established marine tradition. By this time he would
have known Courbet's marines, and those whistlers too, in which the empty sea, whether
dominated by a single wave or representing as a cool band. Some of the boats have smoke
coming out and are shown as simple, irresistible images of infinity. This view of the sea
makes the observer feel peaceful and tranquil. The Terrace at Sainte- Adresse became a
model for a host of other subjects opening up the possibility of composition that was
above all else parallel, frontal, and embracing.
These portrait shapes on the horizon are sharply geometric and furnishing to the oriental
pastel tone of the painting. While Monet's treatment of the sky is flat, the sea show
signs of his fascination with its every changing color and a fascination that emerges
strongly about his family. Monet's idea for this painting was to capture reality and
analyze the ever-changing nature of light and color. The freedom of his brushwork and the
paint that he used which is oil on canvas was audacious use of color in his work was to
record his surroundings faithfully from Paris. Monet's work was very detailed and dreamy.
The beauty of Terrace at Sainte-Adresse was based on the gardens and the ocean front view
that he created at Giverny in northeastern France.
Bibliography
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