LIFE AS MYTH
JOURNAL
JOURNAL 2012
The seeds of wisdom
Leaning into the answer
SPRING 2012
Lessons from the lily pond
Color & meaning in lotus mythology
Color through an ever shifting glass
LIFEWORKS
ATLAS
SPRING 2012
WEAVING LIGHT AND COLOR
Monet in the garden at Giverny. Étienne Clémentel. 1917. (below) Nymphéas Seerosen. Claude Monet. 1915. Neue Pinakothek, Munich.
I would like to paint the way a bird sings.
Claude MonetIn addition to a feeling of movement and spontaneity, French Impressionism had several distinguishing characteristics. In a departure from traditional indoor studios, artists worked in out-of-door venues (plein-air painting). Additionally, their subject matter centered around everyday people in these casual outdoor settings. This differed from earlier traditional forms which focused on rich or highly ranked people and historical or biblical themes.
Technique changed as well. Broken color and broken brushstrokes gave the paintings a sketchy and unfinished quality. These two techniques were also highly evocative, conveying a sense of light and atmosphere. There were other departures in technique. Traditional artists mixed colors on the palette. Impressionists, however, applied pure, unmixed color directly on the canvas. This further enhanced the sense of atmosphere that the Impressionists sought. Finally, in their continued exploration of light, these artists accomplished the shadowing of images with color rather than with blacks and grays. Their work in open air settings and the impact of color in those settings influenced this development.
