Claude Monet: Fisherman's Cottage on the Cliffs at Varengeville

Claude broke away from the traditional aspect of portraying the fleeting consequence of the atmosphere, season, time, and light. In his paintings, he did away from the normal black and gray and many a time presenting colors and breaking them down into single components. According to Galenson (2009), Monet led in the application and used transient effect of using natural light into his modern painting, resulting in the modern century forerunner. His style gave his painting the same effect on the passing seasons an aspect that became famous in all his paintings. As a founder and core member French Impressionist Art group, Claude Monet's close observation, and keen attitude towards nature gave birth to his Impressionists' art painting style, the scenic painting that became his hallmark and architectural artwork (Galenson 2009). His work remained tremendous and inspired the likes of Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollack.

Claude Monet captured the cottage and represented in as a lone cabin by the sea majorly used by explorers and fishers. Fishing was a major economic activity along the coastline of Varenngeville (Galenson 2009). The post was initially built to observe the traffic in the coastal region during the Napoleonic era. The cottage is a representation of the cultural and traditional livelihood of the people along the coast that included fishing and exploration. Although used to observe the traffic along the coast, fishers used them specifically for storage purposes, an aspect that gave the cabins a significant relevance along the coast. It represented the cultural way of life of the people living along the coast, an area that remained unexplored during late 1880.

Monet drew the cabin bearing in mind the unique geographical position it represented along the coast. With no path leading to it, the cottage stands aloof and magnificent on the edge of the cliff. With its dotted sparkles, yachts, and distance, the cabin strikes a contrasting resemblance with the blue hue of the sea, rising slightly above the horizon. Monets mastery of using natural lighting conditions emphasizes the high quality of the art, especially the orange hue roof also gives a different complementary of the blue waters up in the spanning horizon. The spanning light reflection from the huge museum windows gives the painting a tinge outlook emphasizing on the blue horizon of the sea. In observing the picture from a distance, the cottage looks aloof and hanging in the balance with the little support base, protruding out from the shrubs. It gives the effect of secluded and deserted cabin out in the open sea. A closer look at the door and windows of the painting gives the impression of two eyes and a nose, a cottage once inhabited but now deserted and aloof out in the sea. With no clear path to reach to it, the clear-cut shrubs offer an amicable support and only company to the cabin. Monet used sharp focus, especially the dotted lines above the cabin roof to emphasize on the beautiful scenery of the blue sea.

The expansive region out of out of the cottage and into the sea provides an expansive space behind the painting, giving the cabin a miniature look. The style brings out the unique aspect of the sharp edges of the cabin, especially the rough edges of the roof and the hue of the walls. The building conspicuously portrays the natural season of the calm, resolute blue waters combined with the natural light of the surrounding. The use of natural light to give meaning to the refined expression of the sea is emphasized further by the fleeting effect of the natural blue color of the waters in the background and surrounding area of the cabin. The refined expression of the rough edges of the building is further given a transient effect by broad strokes of palette representing the natural outdoor color of the museum. The resounding art effect is that the Monet painting creates the impression of occupying a vast and conspicuous space on the wall and the adjacent paintings and works of art. In overlooking the sea, the painting is a welcoming sight to explorers arriving by yacht.

The cabin's location is an explicit representation of the seasonal nature of the economic activity of the locals around the region. It is a building often used during the fishing season, giving it a lonely and desolate appearance. It thus stands out as a clear manifestation of the lifestyle of fishers on the seasonal nature of the activity in the waters. Its simple name depicts the primary cultural activity of fishing and seasonal exploration activity that took place along and around the Dieppe region in the early and mid-1800. The stone cabin is an explicit representation of an area full of human endeavor but now deserted and standing as a reminder of the Napoleonic era. From a distance in its display, the painting stands conspicuous, with high-quality significance representing a unique aspect of life out in the sea.

References

Galenson, D. (2009). Conceptual revolutions in twentieth-century art (No. w15073). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Galenson, D. W. (2009). Painting outside the lines. Harvard University Press.