Trees by the Seashore at Antibes 1888

Here we see Claude Monet’s exploration of light and form in his painting, *Trees by the Seashore at Antibes*. Monet’s brushstrokes create an interplay of colors and texture that convey the atmosphere of the Mediterranean coast. The canvas is dominated by the verticality of the trees, whose forms provide a structural framework. The branches reach across the canvas, creating a complex network of lines against the sky, whilst the trunks are rendered with hues of blues and oranges to convey a sense of depth and solidity. Monet’s impressionistic technique serves to destabilize traditional modes of representation. Instead of a precise depiction, we are presented with an arrangement of colors and shapes that evoke a fleeting moment in time. The semiotic system at play here involves decoding the cultural association of landscapes with ideas of beauty, tranquility, and the sublime. The formal qualities of the painting function not just as aesthetic devices but also as part of a larger cultural and philosophical discourse on perception and representation.