Monet and Van Gogh

Introduction

Claude Monet’s Bouquet of Sunflowers is an oil on canvas, portrait painting. The dimensions of the painting are 101 x 81.3 cm. Currently, the Bouquet of Sunflowers is on view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 819. Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is also an oil on canvas, portrait painting. Its dimensions are 95 x 73 cm and are considered one of his most famous paintings. This painting is currently in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Subject Matter and Description

Both Monet’s and Van Gogh’s paintings display sunflowers as the subject matter, but they each portray different aspects of these flowers. Monet’s still life depicts freshly picked flowers in a large, Japanese vase on top of a red, possibly plaid tablecloth, in front of a mostly gray wall. These sunflowers grew along the pathway to his garden at Vétheuil (Bouquet of Sunflowers). They’re bright and lively, at the peak of their beauty. Van Gogh’s sunflowers, on the other hand, were wilted, withered; past their prime, yet Van Gogh found beauty in them. His vision allowed him to see the beauty of these dying flowers, just as it allowed him to see the beauty of weathered faces (The Painter of Sunflowers).

Visual Elements (of Art)

In Monet’s work, the usage of color draws out the brightness of the sunflowers. With most of the background being gray, he manages to create contrast; distinguishing between a cool-colored gray wall and warm, bright-colored sunflowers and vases. Though the green leaves and stems of the sunflowers are considerably more vivid than the gray background, the warmer yellows of the flowers themselves coalesce with the cooler greens in the stems. Monet’s painting brings out the brightness of the flowers through his use of complimentary colors; the green of the leaves against the red of the tablecloth, and the pale orange and blue of the wall, counterbalancing the gray tone, leaving the golden yellow flowers to stand out. For Van Gogh’s painting, he utilizes yellow hues in contrast with blue and black streaks, even the greens of stems lacked with yellow undertones. It is the lack of color that brings out the withering flowers even more; instead of the petals being the hook, your attention is pulled to the golden-brown centers of the flowers. The lines in Bouquet of Sunflowers are loose, and they blend into each other. In Sunflowers, Van Gogh does not use defined contour lines, instead, lines are implied. Defined lines encompass the sunflowers and vase to prevent them from melting into the background, perhaps compensating for the lack of complimentary colors. The gauzy, more textured lines of Monet’s portrait create a more naturalistic sensation to the overall painting, whereas Van Gogh’s is more stylistic. Sunflowers also contain an authentic texture, with the sunflowers’ pistils looking prickly due to the fuller and more robust paint strokes used to create them. Monet’s sunflowers appear to have a velvety texture, and the vase appears to be smooth. The red tablecloth is painted in a way that it appears to be made of wool.

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Composition and the Principles of Design

To achieve emphasis in the paintings, Monet and Van Gogh used different methods. Monet uses colors to create the central point of focus; the colors of the background cannot outcompete the bright colors of the sunflowers. Other hues of color are used to support the flowers; your eyes are drawn to the focal point instantly. Though Van Gogh does use the lack of color to add emphasis, he also uses contour lines on top of implied lines to pull the yellow petals out from the background. The differences within each painting also add to the visual interest. The sunflowers’ pistils pop out from the smoother background and petals in Van Gogh’s, whilst the warm yellow flowers jump out from the relatively neutral and cooler elements. There is also a sense of harmony in Van Gogh’s painting, with three petal-less pistils on the top and bottom of the painting, and the four flowers on the right and left sides. These two groups of pistils form triangles. The Bouquet of Sunflowers creates balance through the larger sunflowers that spread out towards the empty space of the wall, free from the green leaves.

Styles

Monet’s Bouquet of Sunflowers is a part of the Impressionism movement. It was a movement where the artists strived to capture the fleeting sensations of a scene, or the impression objects made when someone glances at them. Impressionists moved out from studios to the outdoors. The brushwork during this period was looser and the color palettes lightened to include intense colors. They avoided distinguishing the important elements of a picture and tossed linear perspective to the side in favor of emotional impact within their works. It was a more naturalistic movement, though it didn’t always rely on realistic depictions (Impressionism Movement Overview). Van Gogh was a part of Post-Impressionism. This movement was for expressing emotions versus optical impressions. These artists concentrated on themes of deeper symbolism, using simplified colors and more definitive forms. Another characteristic of this era was its renewed aesthetic sense and abstract tendencies (Post Impressionism). Both artistic movements arose in late 19th-century France. Impressionism had been created through the rejection of the state-controlled academies and salons in favor of independent exhibitions. Post-Impressionism was the reaction against Impressionism, rejecting the spontaneous and “naturalistic rendering of light and color” in favor of symbolic content and formal order (Impressionism and Post-Impressionism).

Conclusion

These portraits of sunflowers are best viewed under different evaluation theories. Monet’s should be evaluated formally, whilst Van Gogh’s should be evaluated expressively. Monet was a founder of French impressionism, the movement’s philosophy was to “express one’s perceptions before nature,” or to be able to capture the sensory effects within a moment in time. Though they didn’t necessarily rely on realistic depictions, Impressionists still wanted to convey the passage of time; the subtle changes in the weather or the shifts in the atmosphere. Bouquet of Sunflowers is a portrayal of Monet’s techniques and skills in creating a sensory effect to show off the beauty of the flowers, so it is appropriate to use the skill-reliant evaluation theory to judge it. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers were about something that had meaning to the artist. They were created as an expression of his gratitude, and they became something deeply associated with Van Gogh. He intended to make art to provide solace, and comfort in a time of distress or sadness for troubled hearts. In Van Gogh’s works, his emotions are something that must be taken into consideration for his works, for they are the reason he even started to paint, wishing to free himself from his mental suffering. Without his emotional state, Van Gogh’s art may have not existed in the first place, so using an evaluation that is artist-centered is the best way to evaluate Sunflowers.

Work Cited

1. “Biography of Claude Oscar Monet.” Claude Oscar Monet - The Complete Works - Biography, www.claudemonetgallery.org/biography.html.
2. “Bouquet of Sunflowers.” Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437112.
3. “Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.” Oxford Art, www.oxfordartonline.com/page/impressionism-and-post-impressionism/impressionism-and-postimpressionism.
4. “Impressionism Movement Overview.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement/impressionism/.
5. “The Painter of Sunflowers.” The Painter of Sunflowers - Van Gogh Museum, www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/stories/the-painter-of-sunflowers#10.
6. “Post Impressionism .” Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/poim/hd_poim.htm.
7. Upen. “What Is the Difference Between Impressionism and Post Impressionism.” Pediaa.Com, 24 Feb. 2019, pediaa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-impressionism-and-post-impressionism/.