Claude Monet

The following four paintings were done by Claude Monet.

The first Painting is titled "The Thames at Westminster" and was done in 1871. Monet used a very limited color palette on this piece. The colors used have a green tint ranging from a light olive green to a dark forest green. Black is used for the people buildings boats and docks, white is used to lighten the sky and splashes in the water. The colors he chose to use are harmonious.

The painting evokes a feeling of everyday busy life on the waterfront.

The second painting is titled "Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog" and was done is 1904. It was painted with more of a broad color palette you can see almost every color of the rainbow in this piece. I think it is interesting how he makes this piece use all of the colors but it is still dark when you look at it. He really gave it a fuzzy mysterious feel that is a lot like the effects of fog on the eyes. At first glance I didn't realize how bright the hot spots get with the oranges and yellows, it really gives the feel of being foggy.  The dark areas where the fog has no light on it are dark and grey and blurred just like in real life. This combination of colors is not harmonious.

This piece gives me a mysterious type feeling. It looks like what could have been an old cover to the book "Dante's Inferno".

The third painting is titled "Le Parlement, Effet de Brouillard" and was also done in 1904.  Once again Monet used a limited color palette. It seems the base color of this piece was purple mixed with a little dark blue. In the sky and in the water he uses some green and white. This color scheme is harmonious.

This piece also gives off a foggy mysterious feeling, but it seems colder because of the absence of any warm colors.

The fourth and final painting is titled "Houses of Parliament, London" and was done in 1905. This piece uses a very broad color palette. I like how he depicted the sun shining off of the water and the shadow the tower casts. This painting feels a lot edgier than the other three, this time there is no fog but still the straight lines of the buildings are not clear. In a way this seems more abstract than the other 3 paintings. The colors that he used are not harmonious but they go very well with each other.

This image does not evoke as strong of feelings as the other 3 did to me. This painting seems like a lazy sunny day to me.                          

Of the four Monet images that I just posted the 1 that stands out to me that I like the most is definitely the second one "Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog". I really like the light coming out from behind the dark and how mysterious the dark parts are. He used so many colors and at first glance it just looks dark with a light spot in it. There really is a lot of detail in it and where it is dark it just blurs away into the fog.  I have never really stopped and appreciated a Monet and now I am very glad to learn more about him and his work.