Rebllious Soul

Miles H. Hodges, Untitled

When we think of rebelliousness, we think of protests or parents, well do you ever think about art as rebellious; probably not or not as much. Believe it or not but many French artist were rebellious in their own way depending on the time period. There were medieval times, French Baroque, Rococo, French Classicism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Post- Impressionism, and Cubism. But don’t worry; you don’t have to know all about those time periods to understand the rebelliousness that Monet and Picasso have done in their time period in France.

 

Monet appeared in the 19th century, during the impressionist artistic movement. Monet and other impressionist didn't exactly paint realist paintings, but had a great use of color and brush stroke technique.

Monet, Rouen Cathedral Series

Can you see the use of color? From a view like this, you can point out different shades of blue, but Monet technique in color involves more than just blue, but purple, red and yellow; but from a distance his work looks like different shades of blue. Monet studied light and how it impacted color; in other words, he is a landscape dude. Monet was one of the founders of impressionism, leaving romanticism and moving forward to the next thing. At first Impressionism wasn't successful, but within time, it was accepted into society. What a rebellious soul! Since Monet had a heavy interest in different effects of lighting and atmospheric conditions, he painted different versions of the Rouen Cathedral.



 Monet, Rouen Cathedral

 Monet, Rouen Cathedral

What an artist, aren't they all beautiful. Next time you want to be rebellious, do what Monet did: use different lighting and techniques! Monet made different versions of the Rouen Cathedral but they are no longer together; they were all sold to different collectors.

Another French artist with a rebellious soul was Pablo Picasso. Since he lived 90 years, he have been through many artistic periods. Picasso is a well know founder of Cubism that took place in the 20th century. Cubism is the first abstract style of modern art. Picasso was inspired by artist such as Cezanne, Monet, Manet, then Matisse. Most of Picasso's cubism was produced in Paris.

Picasso, Les Demoiselles

Why would Picasso be classified as a rebellious soul you may ask? Great question. Picasso is a rebellious soul because he ignores the traditions of perspectives; his art shows many subjects at a time. This is when collages were first introduced in paintings; this particular painting was influenced by African mask which was also different back then. What a rebellious soul!

Picasso, Untitled

As you see, there are many different viewpoints in just one painting. You can see front and side views of the eyes, nose and face all at the same time! Picasso knew his face looks different from different angles, so why not include these views as well?!

After reviewing over both Monet and Picasso's ways and why they did what they did, I was left thinking: If I had to choose, which rebellious soul would I have been, the impressionist Monet or the Picasso who founded cubism?

 Alaze