Spring Landscape 1894

Claude Monet made this landscape with oil paint, using loose brushstrokes to suggest the vitality of nature. His technique, known as Impressionism, moved away from traditional methods of art production towards a more subjective and immediate approach. The way Monet handled his materials is key here. The strokes of paint are distinct and visible, building up layers of color and texture on the canvas. It’s almost as if the painting is a record of the artist's physical gestures, each brushstroke capturing a fleeting moment of perception. Monet spent hours outdoors, engaging with the landscape, and trying to capture on canvas the changing conditions and the sensations of being immersed in nature. In Monet’s time, the availability of pre-mixed paints in tubes revolutionized art-making. Artists were no longer dependent on grinding their own pigments. This allowed for greater spontaneity and portability, freeing artists from the studio and enabling them to work en plein air. This painting is not just a representation of a scene, but evidence of a radical shift in artistic practice, driven by new materials and changing social conditions.