San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk
Artist: Claude Monet
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 65.2 cm x 92.4 cm ( 25.7 in x 36.4 in )
Year: 1908-1912
Location: National Museum Cardiff of Cardiff, Wales
Oscar Claude Monet was the founder of the French Impressionist movement in art. The philosophy of impressionism is based on expressing one’s perceptions or impressions of subject matter as opposed to mechanical, linear depictions. Monet believed in the strength of observation and painting colors observed, not the physical being. San Giorgio Maggiore al Crepuscolo, which is also entitled Venice at Dusk, is one of Monet’s most famous paintings, in which he almost did not create. At age 68, Monet and his wife were invited to stay in Venice. While reluctant to paint the subject which had been painted so many times by other artists, he had not intended to create any paintings while staying in Venice. But when he arrived, he was so entranced by the sight of Venice, he had his painting materials sent to him. In October 1908, he began a series of preliminary works, including San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk.
San Giorgio Maggiore is a sanctuary and monastery off the coast of Italy. Monet’s depiction of it is all about the effects of light. He uses small, thin brush strokes, with an emphasis on the accurate depiction of how light changes the qualities of hte subject and movement in the water, using unusual visual angles. He painted a series of the subject, capturing various angles and lighting during the day’s progression. Instead of focusing on the details, Monet emphasized capturing the moment with sunlight effects and the overall visual effect. He disliked the sun setting, because with the sunset, colors began to disappear.
After 1886, Monet refused to use black, brown or any earthtone paints. He used white, yellow, vermillion, blue, and green and would often mix colors directly on the painting canvas. Monet’s San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk is not a depiction of the monastery, but a painting of the colors at that time of day. Using shades of yellow, orange, purple and red, he blended to show a setting sun on the water, the building depicted could be anything, and the setting anywhere.