The painting “The Rue Montorgueil” by Claude Monet and the painting “The Rue Mosnier with Flags” by Edouard Manet are both painting of the French festival of June 30th, 1878. They both show the festival but they show different point of views of the celebration. Both have a artistic techniques that are similar, from the outdoor scenes to the use of the light and colors. In the painting “The Rue Montorgueil” by Monet shows from a viewpoint that is above the streets of France. You can see that there is a ton of flags hanging from each building. The flags in this painting add energy to the painting. You see many flags blowing in the wind and that there is so many it just gives the painting a great sense of energy. The use of the loose brushstrokes also adds more energy to the painting; you can see the use of them in the sky and on the flags. You can see that this painting is very celebratory because you see that the streets are filled with people. There are many people that are celebrating the festival. You see the streets filled with people and knowing the past behind this festival you seem to wonder if the people remember why they celebrate. The festival was to celebrate that France is getting back on their feet after the war, and to celebrate the new republic. Past is haunting and the painting is looking towards the future. The war and destruction is connected to this subject matter.
As you can see that the two artists have very similar names. Manet even commented on the similarity with their names—“who is this Monet whose name sounds just like mine and who is taking advantage of my notoriety”. In this painting you can see that Manet brought his painting closer down to the ground, it is more up close and personal. You can see that the streets are emptier and you see a few flags hanging from the windows and buildings. It doesn’t show a large amount of blazing flags like in Monet’s painting. A way that you can differ Manet’s work over Monet’s is that Manet is associated with realism more. The major difference I find in these two paintings is the way they approach the subject matter. You can see that Manet often uses more whites and blacks. You can see the contrast with these colors in the painting “The Rue Mosnier with Flags” you see that the right side of the street is done in very bright colors and then you have this dark wagon. The crippled veteran also stands out against the light road. Another important difference is Manet brings in more politics than Monet. You can see this crippled veteran walking on the left side of the street. This man is showing the price that France had to pay to have this celebration. This man is a main reminder of the past that Manet didn’t want people to forget. Manet wants to continue to include politics in his art, avant grade art. With the on going tension between the radical art and the radical politics this becomes a part of the subject matter in this painting. Everyone else is moving on to radical art and techniques Each of these paintings show a great deal of pride with showing the flags that are up to celebrate getting back on their feet after a tragedy. Both use a nice detail in color and both are from different points of view. They are both reminders of the past but Manet’s painting has more of a reminder of what was lost for France to celebrate.
I wonder which painting was considered to be better or more popular at the time. I would guess that people liked the Monet. Manet might have even been considered old fashioned or passe for bringing a political message to his work. Artists will no doubt be learning and re-learning the pitfalls and advantages that go with political subjects until the end of time. As for artistic technique; the public seems to adjust to anything that lasts a while.
ReplyDeleteI never actually analyzed the meaning of why Monet's painting was in aerial perspective and Manet's was a lower perspective. This calls for deeper meaning in Manet's piece then, Manet wanted to not focus on the celebration, but upon the dirty and plain things that mattered the most.
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