Claude Monet : Woman with a Parasol Part.2

IV. Color Division

Impressionist painters, in their quest to deny the intrinsic colors of objects and instead capture nature as it shimmered before their eyes, invented a unique technique. This technique aimed to achieve two simultaneous ambitions: reproducing the subtle glimmers of sunlight that danced even on the undersides of slender blades of grass or the folds of clothing, and, further, representing not only the subtle colors of light but also the luminous radiance.

To faithfully capture the glimmers of sunlight on the canvas, one must use the colors of sunlight itself. Although sunlight appears white at first glance, it is known to contain all seven colors of the rainbow when analyzed. Yet, the development of optical theory at that time provided even stronger theoretical support for this phenomenon. Therefore, the Impressionist painters adhered, above all, to the principle of employing the seven colors of the rainbow. This involved placing the primary colors of red, blue, and yellow, as well as the secondary colors produced by mixing each pair of primary colors (orange, purple, and green), at the center of their palettes, banishing dark colors. As a result, Impressionist paintings shone much brighter than their predecessors. Indeed, anyone visiting an art gallery and transitioning from rooms displaying the works of 19th-century Barbizon School, Courbet, Manet, and others to the room dedicated to Impressionist painters would experience a sudden immersion in the radiant brilliance of the latter.

Hence, the first principle of Impressionism was that of pure colors. The second principle involved using these unmixed colors as purely as possible, without blending them with one another. In traditional painting techniques, it was common practice to mix various pigments to create intermediate colors. The natural world does not exclusively exhibit the colors available in pre-mixed pigments. To represent colors not present in pre-made pigments, artists needed to create them on their palettes. However, the Impressionist artists, who were interested in optical theories of the time, knew that mixing pigments would result in a loss of brightness. Combining primary colors, for example, would ultimately yield black. In fact, mixing primary colors results in black. Yet, mixing the seven colors of the rainbow in sequence eventually produces white light. The seven colors of the rainbow are, in essence, the decomposition of sunlight. Therefore, blending pigments symbolized a departure from the brilliant nature of light. Thus, Monet and his fellow Impressionist artists tried to use pigments as unmixed as possible.

So how did they represent intermediate colors? Monet proposed a solution, which was to place the colors that needed to be mixed separately on the canvas with small touches. This way, when viewed from a distance, the individual touches would not be discernible, and the overall effect would appear as if they were blended. However, in reality, each pigment remained separate, maintaining its brightness. It was not the pigments that mixed; rather, it was the light emanating from each pigment that blended in the viewer’s eye. The Impressionist artists referred to this as ‘optical mixing’ or ‘retinal mixing.’ This technique, known as color division, achieved the desired effect.

In “Woman with a Parasol,” for instance, the depiction of the grassy field beneath the main subject is an excellent example of color division. Various colors of touches are parallel on the canvas, even in the shadowed areas, where touches of green and red are liberally scattered. The result is the display of a diverse range of light, even to the point of evoking the heat of a summer’s day.

However, it’s important to note that color division is but one technique. While the multitude of touches scattered across the canvas imparts the illusion of the natural world, it remains a constructed representation of nature. Monet once said, “My work is a window that opens onto nature.” Yet, the world seen through this window is his own interpretation, a fictitious nature flooded with the nuances of light. “Woman with a Parasol” was created in 1886, during the final group exhibition of the Impressionists. Around this time, Monet’s world plunged further into the flood of light expressed through minute touches. In fact, from this point on, the need for clearly defined forms in portraiture largely disappeared from Monet’s canvases.

V. Historical Background

Claude Monet, born in 1840, was the son of a grocer in the bustling streets of Paris. However, when he was just five years old, his family relocated to the port city of Le Havre in the Normandy region, situated by the English Channel. It was in this coastal village that he spent his formative years, and it seems his sensitive disposition towards the vast skies and waters was nurtured during this period.

As a young boy in Le Havre, Monet became acquainted with Eugène Boudin, a seascape painter who would later inspire him greatly. Monet’s decision to pursue a career as a painter was largely influenced by Boudin’s guidance. At the age of eighteen, defying his father’s wishes, Monet moved to Paris, where he would have to carve his own path almost entirely independently. In the ateliers of Paris, he studied art, and it was here that he met fellow artists like Renoir and Pissarro. Together, they formed the Impressionist group, making significant contributions to the history of modern painting. Throughout his life, Monet remained dedicated to his singular artistic vision, consistently translating it onto canvas.

The model for “Woman with a Parasol” is said to be Susanne Hoschedé, the daughter of Alice Hoschedé, a close acquaintance of Monet at the time. During the period when this painting was created, Monet had already separated from his first wife, Camille Doncieux, and was leading a rather solitary life. It was six years after completing this work that he would marry Alice Hoschedé and find a more stable existence. Monet, the perennial artist, continued to pursue his own brilliant world of light, often working from the water lily pond in the garden of his home in Giverny, a Parisian suburb, as is well-documented.