Monet and Manet Festival paintings

The first thing that I notice is the colors are very similar when the paintings are looked at side by side it is as if both men were dipping their brushes into the same palette of paint. Then my eye is drawn to the movement that is so hurried pulling the viewer into the background. Monet’s paint is movement and feeling personified. The open sky is pushing the back ground down into the painting and your eye follows the crowd. This and the moving flags cause the effect of the painter being high above the street painting quickly to catch the movement below.

Manet’s painting on the other hand gives us a view that could only occur before the storm of movement on Monet’s. There are clean streets and the only human close to the painter is a disabled man on crutches. There are buggies in movement and one parked by the road. We see people walking down the street and the image is painted at ground level in comparable calm. Each of these paintings is treated differently by the artist. Each seems to have a very different idea of the meaning of this festival. Manet is quiet and speaks to the beginning or end of the day when the rest of the world is safely ensconced into their homes for the most part safe and sound. Monet shows the rush of humanity that is involved in the festivities.

The flags in both paintings seem to splash color but in Monet’s painting the color is pushed and pulled by the wind. It is as if Mother Nature herself had come to have a good time as well. Manet uses the flags more judicially to show depth and push the viewer back down to the nearly empty street and its few occupants. It is the cold blues in Manet’s painting that give an impress of the calm that comes when the world is at rest.

We can see the light and dark shadows in the paintings that show the movement of time in the day. In Monet’s painting the largest shadows are on the right side of the work and Manet’s work they are coming from the left. This passage of time is tracked by the light of the sun as these are paintings of the out of doors. It is the depth of the shadows closest to the buildings that give Monet the perception of a deep depth between the artist and the street.

I really like the painting by Monet because the movement invites the viewer to join in the fun. One gets the feeling that they are there as swept along with the participants. There is the warmth of the sun, the rush of the crowds, and windows that appear to be overflowing with flags. The patriotism being shown in this scene is a little overwhelming. Manet created a work that invites the viewer to stop and contemplate the stillness of the street before him. There is movement but it is not the central figure in this work it is a partner to the nearly deserted location. People are not rushing about neither are they in a great hurry and patriotism can be saved for another day or those that are wealthy enough to afford it.

These two paintings are very interesting when looked at side by side. They have a lot to say about the importance to movement to create a work that speaks to how we should feel and perhaps do feel about the world around us. When we are moving we are working together to make life work.