Monet Or Manet

Claude Monet

1840-1926

If you trust John Berger’s judgment, you are about to witness "a blizzard of white, grey, and purplish paint ... a terrible blizzard of loss”

The year of 1840 and the fifth floor of 45 rue Laffitte welcomed one of the greatest figures in history of art and existence. while Claude Adolphe Monet and Louise Justine where baptizing their son in the local church as Oscar Claude, little did they know that the person they brought in the world would become an atheist and a father of painting style we call impressionism.

Nineteenth century was the time France was leading the world of art. Small groups of artists were on search for something extraordinary that would make lasting changes in life of visual art. We could apploude few of those who withstood a mighty sward of criticism but shall we forget that. A single individual who performed a deadly deconstruction of rules of art was Claude Monet. He was the one who provided the name by which he and his fellow artists have come to be known.

The name "Impressionism" was derived from Monet’s painting of the port of Le Havre entitled "Impression soleil levant" - or in English "Impression, sunrise" the harsh criticism of this exact painting was the reason behind the name of the modern paining style. Art critic Louis Leroy made fun of the new style by calling Monet and many other Monets – impressionists. Ever since the word is mainly used to praise them.

Monet was one of the first artists to find inspiration in the most random details of life like street scenes and railway stations. In order to adopt a new method of painting, he moved to a countryside where he was painting the same scene many times to capture the changing light of the passing of the seasons.

December 5th of the year 1926 was when death took Monet away. At the age of 86. Giverny was the last place where he lived. His house along with the museum of impressionism are major tourist attraction from all over the world.

Edouard Manet

1832–1883

Eduard Manet’s whole life is s subtle art of search for a value where value is not searching for itself. French painter, whose initial desire was to become a naval officer, twice failed the training school's entrance exam, that time he would hardly imagine scenario where his painting would be sold for 20 million dollars.

Eduard Manet belonged to an upper class family where neither money nor social status was an issue of worry. The story of his existence is full of rejection resistance and failure. Instead of following other artist’s footsteps, he longed to create his own. His painting - "The Absinthe Drinker" shows that he had a great success in realism. His transition to impressionism started when he changed painting techniques as well as subjects of his work.

He would observe everyday people engaged in everyday tasks for many hours. His paintings were populated by singers, street people and beggars. This unconventional focus combined with a mature knowledge of the old masters startled some and impressed others.

He tried to gain acceptance into the salon, but salon kept rejecting him. One of his famous paintings -“Olympia” shows a lounging nude beauty who unabashedly stares at her viewers. This painting was deemed as scandalous by jury members as well as the general public.

On the other hand, Manet’s contemporaries, saw that he was willing to break the stereotypes. They would usually refer him to a hero. In hindsight, he was ringing in a new style and leading the transition from realism to impressionism. Within 42 years, the rejected “Olympia” would be installed in Louvre.

April 30, 1883 is when Manet dies. Besides the few hundreds of paintings, the world is left with an influential artist who made fundamental changes in the way we perceive art today.