Title of Piece: Le Dejeuner sur L’Herbe

Artist: Claude Monet

Nationality of the Artist: French; born in Paris to Claude Adolphe Monet and Louise Justine Aubrée Monet

Year the Piece was Done: 1865-66

Movement or period in art with which the piece is associated: Impressionism

This is a perfect representation of art because it is a visual representation of something that immediately intrigues an onlooker and even makes them ask, “What are these couples doing?”. Not only is it thought-provoking, but Monet truly shows his own talents through the intricate brush-strokes that he uses during the Impressionist Era. Because there is really no right way to define the, “perfect representation of art,” it is hard to say why this particular painting would be perfect above all of his other paintings or above other artists’ paintings. But, I think that an important concept that all artists try to accomplish is to draw the attention of the people, and to get them to think further into the meaning of the painting. I think Monet clearly does this within this painting because one could inquire why the men and women are so dressed up for such an outing. Did they come from something important? Was that just the standard of dress? I really just enjoy this painting because it picks up on real life during the mid to late 1800s, and portrays a really happy outing of some sort. Although the painting may be picturesque and very charming to look at, I believe Monet’s biggest strength here is that he creates an ambiguous scene that allows for a lot of questioning.

-Kara Livingston