Impression, Sunrise was thankfully recovered five years later, and was returned to the museum. A sketch quickly executed to catch the atmospheric moment, it was catalogued as. Monet painted this picture of the sun seen through mist at the harbour of Le Havre when he was staying there in the spring of 1872. Monet's work has belonged to this collection for much of it's existence, excluding a small sabbatical the painting spent after being stollen in 1985, along with eight other Impressionist paintings. Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise) 1873 (210 Kb) Oil on canvas, 48 x 63 cm (19 x 24 3/8') Musee Marmottan, Paris. It currently resides in the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, France ( eat your heart out Paris, Texas). The use of complementary colors makes the work particularly stunning.
It is ironic that such a serene scene would cause a revolution. The scene appears to be a boat on a lake with some fog, trees and the sun rising in the background. Cultural impact aside, Monet's work is quite beautiful.
Taking this as a challenge, these men called themselves the impressionist. Monet made this painting for an art critic, and the critic insulted the group of artists that made paintings in this style ( people like Renoir or Degas) by calling them the impressionist, and saying that the painting was little more than graffiti. It was one of those landmarks that allowed for the progression of the arts. The significance of this painting cannot be under stated. The title of this work would be worked into the title of the entire artist movement. Claude Monet made a real impression (#punsareawful) with this painting. So when we talk about Impressionism, lets start at the beginning. These words were spoken by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and were the foundation of one of the most influential art movements of the 19th century. You don't start a marathon seventeen miles in you don't watch a movie after skipping through the first half hour, you miss some character development and such. A landscape is nothing more than an impression of a moment. I have always believed that when you start something, you should start it from the very start.