If there is any artist, past or present, into whose studio I could magically transport myself and observe him paint, it would be Claude Monet. I have always been intrigued by his painting style, especially his highly textured and complex surfaces. When I lived in New York, I spent many an hour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my face pressed close to the Monet canvases in an effort to comprehend his handling of paint. I even had a dream about him once in which I tried to pry some information from him about his technique. Sadly, he wouldn’t talk.
So I was delighted when I discovered a short film of him painting in his gardens at Giverny in 1914. It’s in black and white, of course, and you can barely see the surface of his painting or much of his palette. Yet, this is the only such record of him painting I have ever seen, so I thought it would be interesting to play studio detective and see what I might learn if I studied the film closely.
Trouble viewing the video here? Watch it direct from YouTube.
If you want to track my observations, I’ve keyed my commentary to specific time segments in the film.
:55 – Fierce observation
Painting en plein air, one would naturally expect Monet to observe his subject. Yet, the constancy with which he observes is astonishing. Except for the time he takes to clean his brush, he turns to his subject every two or three seconds. While I had expected keen observation, this frequency surprised me. Because Monet’s approach to color was so clever and interpretive, I imagined that he would have spent more time thinking about the colors on his canvas and less about the colors in front of him. Of course, we can’t be sure what his observations were. The real genius, of course, was the translation that occurred between what he saw and what he chose to place on his canvas.
1:03 – 1:14 – Brushes
At 1:03 Monet pauses for a fraction of a second to choose his brush. Monet thinking —caught on film! Monet uses four brushes. They appear to be the same size, so almost certainly the various brushes were assigned different colors. One brush also appears to be quite pointy, the bristles forming a triangular shape. It is possible that this is a type of brush called a langue de chat or “cat’s tongue.”
1:27–2:00 – Strokes of broken color
Monet and the other Impressionists abandoned the approach of blending colors over large areas in favor of placing individual strokes side by side, and allowing the eye to mix those spots of color at a distance. Here we witness the action that produces these daubs and dashes of “broken color.” The strokes are fairly short “dashes.” There is no blending or rubbing, just one thrust of the brush. He holds the brush fairly far back along the shaft and extends his arm, reaching to the canvas. After just a few strokes, he returns to the palette for more color.
1:37 – 2:00 – Palette and mixing
At 1:12 we get the clearest glimpse of his palette. Given how “loaded” with paint the surface of his paintings were, I was a little surprised not to see larger daubs of pigment on his palette. When he mixes he picks up little bits of paint in quick swipes, then mixes them with just a few quick swirls.
Stance and orientation
When painting outdoors (or with any subject, for that matter) it is usually recommended that your subject be as close to your line of sight as possible. This reduces the need to turn your head so far. Here, though, Monet is turning a full 90 degrees to the right to view his subject. This was likely because of the size of the canvas. Had he propped it up in front of himself, it would have blocked his view.
2:18 – Monet’s faithful dog
A little dog follows Monet down the garden path. This, or one of the other dogs, also makes an appearance at the opening of the film at 0:27 (This has nothing to do with his painting, but it is very cute. All those gardens — and dogs, too!)
Additional Resources
Film of Renoir painting at home at YouTube
On Painting the Sun: Monet’s Choice by Jerry Fresia
The Affect of Value on Color Identify in Impressionist Painting by Mitchell Albala
16 Comments
And that white suit coat and vest! How did he ever keep it so white? I wonder if that was his usual painting garb or donned for the benefit of the camera.
Thanks Mitch for a great break down of the master at work and the close ups, how fantastic to see Monet himself applying brushstrokes – it’s like travelling back in time.
I thought the brief film was worth watching. I got the impression that when Monet realized he was being not only watched but filmed while painting, that he lost his concentration and stopped. Either that or he had to go get another cigarette!
I do get inspired by dead painters that everyone seems to revere, but I rather prefer live artists who are reacting to life TODAY. There will always be collectors/investors of old stuff, but what keeps live, working artists going are folks loving what we are doing and supporting us now.
thanks for posting this film and your remarks. Thanks, also, for your wonderful book that I own and am always inspired by. Want to be included in your next book!
Hi Mitch,
Thanks for taking the time to carefully watch the process and remind us what to observe. You made me realize the power of the broken color in my pastel paintings. I sure miss oils. I’m of the opinion his brush was worn down but I guess we’ll never know. Do you think he was glancing over his shoulder to see the painting at a distance while reaching for his next cigarette? — Barb
PS: Where can I find one of those umbrellas?
Nice to see Monet working, even if it does seem a bit staged. I find it difficult to determine if this is actually the way he worked because of the presence of the camera and photographer. However, since this was shot when he was an older artist, it is probably fairly close to his method of working over a lifetime of painting. Thanks for posting this film.
In trying to improve my own outdoor painting process, I can really relate to this film. To get the “look” of the Impressionists and better capture a scene quickly, short, colorful, and individual strokes are needed, without blending. Load the brush, and put it down. I’ve found palette knife painting gets the thickness like Monet’s but the layering he gets on some of his famous series is incredible and could only be done by placing wet pigment over dry. Too bad they didn’t have color movies in Monet’s time.
The film and your interpretation are both very helpful. Thanks.
How does he keep his attire so white? A fresh jacket for each painting session? Thanks for sharing Mitch….. Kathy
I wondered why he the canvas is on his left, thus having to turn his head over his right shoulder to see his subject. If he had it on right he would not have as far to turn.
This is great to be able to see, if only for a minute or so, Monet actually painting. We can learn so much from this. I, too, was surprised at how fast he looked and painted. But then i realized that everything is kinda jotty. Thats when i figured that it is playing faster than normal. So in actuality Monet is looking longer and painting slower in real life. If you had a video player that you could play this back at half speed say, then i think you would get a better reading as to the speed he looked/painted at. I only wish the cameraman turned the camera so that we could see the canvas as well. But that may have been a request by Monet.
P.S. There is a similar video of Renoir painting, as well.
In that era, I heard that if you are on a boat on the Seine, the regulation at the time was that one was required to wear white. So Monet wore white for regulation and may have worn it as a painting jacket. Other colours were specified on other waterways.
Elizabeth Sandia,
There is a good reason why the reputations of old artists such as Monet have lasted hundreds of years and probably many more to come. With close observation and greater understanding of the works (of which you must have very little) it can clearly be seen that these are works of true genius. It is sad that no one can see or appreciate this genius today, dismissing it in favour of continuous advancement. it seems that the world’s obsession with modernisation has led artists to neglect their own basics, blundering through in an attempt to create something new. but if you cant paint like Monet or even see what is so special about his work, is it really a good idea to try and better him?
these great masters can teach us the basics of art and give us grounding before launching our own futuristic attempts. It is sad to see how true art has been left behind and artists now are so disillusioned. They are blinded by the idea that they must “advance”, working in the dark, not being able to see what it is they must advance from.
I do not believe that many people today have the vision and self discipline needed to create genius as great as Monet’s in any discipline of art. They do not know how much they do not know.
There really is good reason why some of us are still obsessing over dead artists.
Dobie,
this video IS an extremely slowed down version!!!! to me, is seems he is painting quite slowly and and observing regularly, especially when you consider that he is only applying strokes with no blending. if you watch this video on you tube it is at a faster, more realistic speed – perhaps you said fast when you meant slow?
Hi Mitchell,
I’m trying to find out if Monet ever used a palette knife to paint with, or if (as I believe) he stuck to brushes. Do you know of any of his paintings where the knife was used? The question came to mind after seeing this programme. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SBCADQL7Nio
Thank you! Kind regards, Stuart
That’s a great question, Stuart. In regards to the palette knife, I can’t say for sure that Monet never used a palette knife. But in my observations — and I’ve looked at a lot of Monet’s up close — I have never seen anything that had the telltale marks left by a palette knife. I suppose it is possible that he used a knife to slater on the paint very thickly, and then went back and modified that with a brush, but my instincts say no. Maybe a good topic to bring up in seance!