Research Paper On Claude Monet

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Claude Monet was one of the first painters to deviate from the traditional style of painting which was primarily concerned with depicting reality. Monet was more concerned with depicting how he perceived the paintings which sparked his idea of the active viewer. He sought to make paintings in which the viewer had to actively participate in the painting to view them in their entirety. Claude Monet also, as seen in “Reflections of clouds on the water-lily pond”, wanted to surround the viewer with his paintings in the intention that the viewer of his work would feel as if they were literally seeing the subject of the painting with their own two eyes. This is, to my understanding, Monet’s concept of virtual reality in artwork. Monet’s work requires us to engage and interact with his painting in order to truly understand the meaning behind them. As Levine says “Finding reality in the paintings of Claude Monet requires relinquishing the virtual Narcissism that can obscure interpretation” (91). What I think Levine is saying in this passage is …show more content…

This effect can be seen in many of his paintings of lily pads on a pond none more so than “Reflections of clouds on the water-lily pond”. This painting was extremely large and would form certain distances surround you and be the only thing in your immediate vision. This was in no way supposed to represent a realistic reality; it merely was the impression that Monet saw when he looked at this particular lily pond. The size of this painting gives the viewer a sense that this is an infinite expanse of water because all that is in the painting is water lily pads and the reflections of clouds on the water’s surface. This gives the painting its sense of virtual reality. Monet’s influence on modern art and technology is intensely obvious in today’s