Terrace at Saint-Adresse

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This paper describes Claude Monet's "Terrace at Saint-Adresse" as a revolutionary approach to the basic elements of painting of his time.

1,290 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2001 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper states that Monet achieves the style of Impressionism through his knowledge of color theory, the physiology of the eye, the science of optics and the nature of light. When viewing Terrace at Saint-Adresse, one gets an impression or visual sensation of the spontaneous light and color of the moment, by using bright, concentrated dabs of color and examining the effects that light on human visual perception.

From the Paper:

"The most basic elements of a painting are line, shape, light, texture and color, while the most basic elements of composition are centrality, symmetry, asymmetry and balance. Claude Monet's Terrace at Saint-Adresse c.1866 represented a revolutionary approach to the basic elements of painting of his time. Contrary to the popular technical style of Realism, or painting a historically important scene using realistic and smooth strokes to depict fixed details, Monet's painting is an expression of the immediate and ephemeral attributes of nature. When one experiences Terrace at Saint-Adresse, the viewer gets an impression, a visual sensation of the spontaneous light and color of the moment."