Red azaleas in a Pot 1883

Claude Monet painted 'Red Azaleas in a Pot' using oil on canvas, a traditional medium, yet he pushed its boundaries. Monet's impressionistic technique, with its short, broken brushstrokes, captures the vibrant energy of the azaleas, their color, and form. The thick impasto of the oil paint creates a textured surface that reflects light, giving the painting a luminous quality. Monet's approach mirrors the industrial age, with its focus on mass production and efficiency. Instead of meticulously blending colors, he applied them directly to the canvas, capturing the essence of the subject with rapid, decisive strokes. This approach challenged the traditional academic style of painting, emphasizing the artist's subjective experience over objective representation. It invited viewers to engage with the artwork on a more visceral level, appreciating the beauty of the moment captured in paint. By embracing new techniques and materials, Monet blurred the lines between fine art and craft, paving the way for future generations of artists to explore the possibilities of abstraction and expression.