Chrysanthemums 1878

Claude Monet painted 'Chrysanthemums’ with oil on canvas. He wasn’t interested in achieving photographic accuracy; his goal was to capture the light and atmosphere of the scene before him. Look closely, and you'll notice how Monet uses visible brushstrokes to build up the image. He applied the paint in short, broken strokes to create a sense of movement and vibrancy. The red vase looks like a textile – perhaps a rug – while the blossoms themselves are built from many layers of paint, each daub representing a petal. It’s not just an image of flowers. It is a thick concentration of labor, built up over time, to capture the essence of something beautiful in the everyday. Monet treated the medium of paint almost like a craft material, using its inherent qualities to create a rich, textured surface. His work blurred the boundaries between fine art and craft, challenging traditional hierarchies of the art world. By focusing on the process of painting, he revealed the labor and skill involved in creating art.