Claude Monet’s Most Famous Works

Running head: ART HISTORY
Art History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

ART HISTORY1
Impressionist art is a style of art where the image of a particular object is one that is
captured by the artist in a manner that gives the impression that one is simply acquiring a
glimpse of the object rather than getting to see the object in full. The pictures with respect to
impressionist art are those that are painted using a great deal of color, with most of these pictures
or paintings being located in an outdoor setting. 1The impressionist art pictures are those where
the images are very large and vibrant. With respect to post impressionism one can say that the
range and extent of style made use of artists is something that appears to be quite diverse, and
there are various art styles like the pictorial style, the primitivism style and the synthetism style
that are seen to form a crucial part of such paintings.2 This assignment engages in a comparison
of Claude Monet’s Impressionism Sunrise as composed in 1872 with The Starry Night by
Vincent Van Gogh.
In Impressionism Sunrise, what is depicted by the artist is the Port of Le Havre, with the
latter being the artists hometown. As many as six different canvases have been used by the artist
to depict the port, at dawn, at dusk and in the afternoon. The viewpoints that are offered in each
and every one of these paintings are also those that are seen to vary from one particular painting
1 Akella, Aneesh. "Modern Art Rendering." University of California, Berkeley (2017).
2 Ibid

ART HISTORY2
to another.3 The port can be viewed from the water itself and it can also be viewed from the hotel
room that overlooks this port. As is the case with impressionist art work, the painter has made
use of vibrant shades and art styles in order to create the painting. The sun is painted in a bright
orange color while subtle shades of blue and grey have been used by the artist to depict the
water. The painting is one that comes across as quite hazy for the most part, and in his defense
what the artist stated when asked about the haziness of the painting is that it is not supposed to
give the viewer an exact idea of what the port looks like but rather it is supposed to provide the
viewer with an impression of the same. Impressionism Sunrise can thus be considered to be a
landmark piece of impressionist art work. All the typical styles and traits of impressionist art,
such as the use of vibrant and bold colors and large sized images have been made use of in this
painting and it is one of Claude Monet’s most famous works. At first view, what a person gets to
see is the Port Le Havre on a lazy morning, with the sun going up in the sky and with the boats
out in the water.4 A relaxed and tranquil impression is conveyed as part of this particular
painting. It is soothing to the eyes and one can see exactly what is what because of the vivid
imagery that has been used in the painting. The water is crystal blue and grey in color, the boats
are painted in pencil shades and the sun is a bright red orange ball in the sky. The hazy image
that comes with the painting is the fact that it is an impression and not a photo image of the Le
Havre Port. An impression is supposed to give viewers an approximate but not exact idea of a
subject matter, and it is an impression that the painter has been able to successfully create in this
work of art. 5
3 Graddy, Kathryn, and Jonathan Hamilton. "Auction guarantees for works of art." Journal of Economic Behavior &
Organization (2017).
4 Ibid
5 Ibid