Claude Monet: The Boulevard Des Capucines

The 19th century was a time of dramatic change between the first half and the second half of the century. The first half followed the rules and traditions established for so many centuries whilst the second half dramatically did the opposite. This period of time was known as impressionism in France where it originated. Attributes of this time consisted of paintings created out of personal interests, time and atmosphere being heavily incorporated into the paintings and using a wide range of colors that represented the scene. One of the most prolific Impressionist artists was Claude Monet who was known as one of the creators of the style. The painting that vividly shows his style and the style of many of the artists that practiced after him is called the Boulevard des Capucines. Created in 1873 this painting was created using oil on canvas and was domestic in scale by being only 32 inches by 23 inches in dimensions. Even though the color black is seen heavily to represent the people on the streets, it was more of a darker shade of different colors than a solid black. Every other color represented the time the painting was captured. The light-yellow road and sky represents a time that the sun was about to set or
about to rise but most likely the prior because of the amount of people present. The trees have almost no green on them to signify that the time was during the winter season. Almost no detail is put into the buildings, roads and people. It basically captures a scene of the hustle and bustle of French life. Applying very little detail, Monet uses quick brushstrokes to create the "impression" of people in the city alive with movement. This is to signify that the place and the even did not really matter, it was more about the undertaking and feeling one would get from being present during this time at that place. The painting ultimately looks like a sketch because the painting had to be done extremely quickly to capture fleeting moments and moods. Thus, there was no actual finish. The viewer has an elevated stance on the scene giving the feeling as if were watching life pass by. This style of painting offers a stark contrast to the photography that was introduced only a couple of decades ago. The Boulevard des Capucines is an actual street in Paris, France and looks almost the same as it did a century ago.
Claude Monet had created the painting for himself and was trying to see the difference between it and the actual photographs that he took in his studios. However, the underlying cause of this is because he and a bunch of artists had been rejected from the Académie des Beaux-Arts due to their style. Thus, he along with other artists who had also been rejected, formed a society for themselves that had private exhibitions. The first exhibition that he had included this painting and another famously known painting, the Sunrise. Monet created two copies of this painting but it is not sure which one was the actual painting featured in the
exhibition.