La Meule, by MONET.
Claude Monet was born in Paris in 1840 and died in 1926 in Giverny (Eure) .He was the most typical representative of impressionism .
Monet was more interested in the treatment of light than the subject itself. Thanks to this piece of art, we can see the essential of the artist's work : the light and its variation changes during the day and along the seasons .Thus, in the series of millstones, effects goes from the full sun to the falling sun and from the summer to the first snows .The 7th of October 1890, he wrote to his friend Gustave Geffroy: "Je m'entête à une série d'effets différents sur les meules, mais à cette époque le soleil décline si vite que je ne peux le suivre. ..Plus je vais, plus je vois qu'il me faut beaucoup travailler pour arriver à rendre ce que je cherche : l'instantanéité ..."*
As Kandinsky said , the fame of these series stroke the painting of that century .In 1912 , he wrote : " Deux évènement marquèrent ma vie entière: en premier lieu la Meule de Monet, pour la première fois je voyais un tableau. .." * *
Bought by Durand-Ruel in 1891, this picture stayed in trader's collection until 1952 .Ceded to the countess of Brecey, who sold it to the Louvre in 1975, it went to the Game of the tennis and Orsay.
In the foreground, we can see two millstones struck by rays of the sun of the end of the summer situated in the middle of a field. In the background, we can observe the outskirts of a wood, and its continuation farther .The verge of this wood is green, but its continuation is rather a mix of fair blue, green, and fair purple .We can remark the limit between the trees and the sky which is blue with a bit of fair purple near the trees .At the bottom on the right, we can see the hand of the painter : Claude Monet 91 .The number 91 shows us the date of the realisation of this piece of art .
I think that this painting represents well France owing to the fact that it shows the rural landscape of our country .Indeed, thanks to this picture and all the series, we can see the fields and the woods of this country during the era when the painter lived, this landscape of peace .
* "I get stubborn in series of different effects on millstones, but during this season, the sun falls so quickly that I can 't follow it. ..The more I go, the more I see that I must work a lot in order to manage to make what I want : instantaneity ..."
* * "Two farts stroke all my life : first La Meule by Monet, for the first time, I saw a painting. .."
By Jonathan.