Claude Monet - Déjeuner sur l'herbe (1865) [Analysis]
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Description:
In 1865, Claude Monet began to paint his own Lunch on the Grass (de) in response to that of Manet. However, this immense picture (4.6 by more than 6 m) has remained incomplete. It represents a more socially acceptable scene of bourgeois recreation (Camille Monet and Frédéric Bazille), but since it is a demonstration of the new Impressionist style, the accent is more on the effects of light than on the subject as such. The subtle play of shadow and light demonstrates the advantages of full-length painting and contrasts with the unnatural studio light of Manet. After the monumental painting had been damaged by the humidity, Monet cut it in three. The left and center sections are now at the Musée d’Orsay, but the third is lost.
