Monet, Claude

(1867-1947)

Monet, Claude (1840-1944) Monet was the leading member of the Impressionist
group, and the one who for the longest time practiced the principles of
absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting directly from the object
and, if necessary, outdoors. Cezanne is said to have described him as "only an
eye, but my God what an eye!" This description is certainly true in that his
constant search for certain truths led at times to a neglect of form. From
about 1890, Monet began to paint a series of pictures of one subject,
representing it under various conditions and at different times of day. His
most famous work of all, Water Lilies, was painted in the elaborate garden he
had made for himself. It has recently been claimed that these shimmering pools
of color, almost totally devoid of form, are the true starting point of
Abstract Art. They were the logical outcome of Monet's lifelong devotion to the
ultimate form of Naturalism, the truth of retinal sensation.

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