The Unimpressed Art Critic

Dear Readers, while on a recent excursion to the beautiful city of Paris I visited an exhibition for Mr. Paul Cézanne, and although his art derives from the unsavoury Impressionism movement, I did find that this new ‘Post-Impressionism’ had grown on me considerably. Afterward, I felt more comfortable in my understanding of Impressionism: “The ‘Post- Impressionistic’ art style is a symbol of new art flourishing in France,” I thought. While in this optimistic state, I found myself heading back to my hotel when I come across the famous Galerie Durand-Ruel. Mr. Paul Durand-Ruel is notorious, as you probably know, for buying and exhibiting Impressionistic artworks. At this time, Mr. Durand-Ruel was holding an exhibit of Mr. Claude Monet and his Rouen Cathedral series. Now, this intrigued me; I had heard great things from French art critics, and this was my opportunity to see these pre-eminent paintings.

Readers, what I was met with stunned me into speechlessness. As I entered the room I saw twenty of the same painting! Regrettably, I was not seeing double, what I saw was unfortunately all too real.

Mr. Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series is a prime example of how uncreative, unskilled and unsensational the Impressionists truly are. Mr. Monet’s series is nothing but glorified studies, why studies that are not even fully formed for that matter! After carefully examining each one I found that all twenty paintings lacked line and character, they all looked as if I was looking at the cathedral through a thick fog.

One of the paintings was especially lacklustre in quality, this painting was called Rouen Cathedral: Setting Sun (Symphony in Grey and Pink)1. On first viewing this painting I found it difficult to see the subject matter, and it was only when taking a few steps back that I could finally see the cathedral. In that moment, I felt as though I should have taken a few more steps back and left the gallery altogether! The pink and blue-grey tones meld together, as they are opposite on the colour wheel, and hence why I had to put some (needed) distance between myself and the painting. Mishaps like this are common knowledge amongst even the most amateur of artists, and this Impressionistic technique is simply an ungrounded error that one Impressionist has picked up from the next to make their artwork unconventional.

Readers, I found myself asking a question after viewing this exhibit that I now pose to you. Why do Impressionists need to go against tradition and be overly extravagant? These French dandies seem to show off at every possible moment; Mr. Monet himself was as flamboyant as ever with his frilly white shirt and blue jacket, reminding me of that God-forsaken peacock that they say represents them as a group. If both Mr. John Ruskin and Mr. Charles Darwin do not trust the peacocks then neither shall I.

Although I must say, Mr. Monet must have a great deal of self-confidence to be able to dress so obnoxiously; such a contrast to a true gentleman. While at the exhibition I came across him conversing with several people, and I noticed he was rather rude and hot-tempered towards his guests. One can create a facade to look like a wealthy middle-class man, but one can never truly be middle-class less you are born into that society. Hence why Mr. Monet is so obscure.

It is a well-known fact that Mr. Monet has been on the verge of bankruptcy for a while now, and it is this series that has saved him from failure. But can we truly call these impasto impeachments a series when they do not even follow the basic convention of narrative? Mr. Thomas Cole’s Course of Empire is a classic series that depicts nature realistically while bringing attention to cultural issues of the time.

The 1830s were a better time for art, none of that “art for art’s sake”, and saying the ‘aestheticism’ of the piece is more important than the message it portrays. Mr. Monet’s series has no meaning behind it, and the lack of care for political and social issues is appalling. This might be presumptuous of me, but perhaps Mr. Monet should go back to the sea-front and make caricatures, at least they would be more interesting and worth more in value artistically.