Lavacourt - Sunshine and Snow

Claude Monet painting of “Lavacourt - Sunshine and Snow” in 1880 while he was staying in Vétheuil. Camille Monet had died only months earlier and Monet was alone in the house for the winter. While there, he took his mind off these recent problems by paintings the land around him.

“Lavacourt - Sunshine and Snow” shows a house in this countryside around where Monet was staying during this winter. The snow in the hills around reflects the light of the rising sun in this morning scene. As with most of Monet’s work, the painting is a study in light. How the early morning light streams across the morning sky, bringing its fresh color and light to the world, and how that same light reflects off the snow, changing its color as it does so.

The painting is done with the masterful gentle yet visible brush strokes of Monet. These gentle strokes add structure to the painting and helps bring out the contrasts in the reflected light.

“Lavacourt - Sunshine and Snow” is among the less known master pieces of Monet, with a beautiful depiction of the French winter countryside. The painting can today be seen at the National Gallery in London.

Camille Monet on her Deathbed

Monet is known for his subtle yet slightly visible brush strokes. Their fine execution is a characteristic trait of Claude Monet Paintings. Indeed, there are very few exceptions to this dedicated style, but they do in fact exist. Example in point is the painting “Camille Monet on her Deathbed”, which Monet painted in 1879 of Camille as she lay dying of Tuberculosis.

In the painting, we see Camille laying dying on her deathbed. The brush strokes with which this is conveyed are often large and quite dominant. Especially the white covering her but also the figure slightly visible in the upper right corner is depicted with these powerful strokes. The coloring is also very black and white, with very few colors and a sense of loss dominating the palette. The authenticity of this coloring can certainly be questioned; whether it really looked like this or whether Monet himself mere wanted to express this feeling he had when looking at his dying wife, seemingly alone in her suffering. It is as if the great loss of his wife has made Monet temporarily forego some of the doctrines of impressionism and has moved much closer to the future movement of expressionism, with a clear sense of loss in both the coloring and the lack of lines. Monet’s great sorrow has so to speak let him abandon his clear ideals in through this detour, he is actually moving closer to future artistic movements than we would see this dedicated impressionist do for the remainder of his career.

“Camille Monet on her Deathbed” can today be found at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, France.