Impression, Sunrise

1872

On my 1993 Paris trip with my school art class. I saw this famous Monet painting alongside a number of treasures, but the punch of the sun stays with me.

The rest of the landscape is muted, the silhouette of the fishermen, given weight alongside the ripples in the harbour, against the light of that early day sun.

The story is told with so little and the colour of that sun is iridescent a century later.

That man could do so much, with so little.

Lessons in that alone!

What was it that grabbed me?

Wham! That sun.

The palette is stripped back to a wash allows that sun to punch you in the gut.

How does this approach inform my style?

I am always battling between painting too much information and being a bit too illustrative. This painting reminds me that you can do so much with very little.

About Claude Monet

What can I say about the father of Impressionism that has not already been written?
I’ve seen his waterlily paintings, and I’ve seen the actual gardens.

The man knows how to put beauty on canvas and make you appreciate the world around you. What a gift.