Claude Monet, 1840-1926: The transformative power of scale
Viewing Claude Monet’s Water Lilies in person can be a breathtaking experience, very different from seeing them in books or online. In real life, these paintings are immense, their scale enveloping the viewer entirely. This experience reveals subtleties of texture and colour that can only be appreciated up close, adding to the peaceful, dreamlike quality that Monet intended. The sheer size commands our full attention, evoking a more powerful, emotional response that transports us back to how the artist would have intended us to view the work.
Wassily Kandinsky, 1866-1944: Symphonies of colour
Wassily Kandinsky’s bold, abstract compositions were deeply influenced by his synaesthetic experience of music and colour. Kandinsky saw colour as an auditory experience, with each hue resonating like a musical note. His paintings, therefore, are not just visual but evoke an emotional response akin to a symphony. By recognising his unique sensory perception, we gain insight into his work as an attempt to blend sound, emotion, and colour into a single, harmonious expression.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, est 1848: A rebellion against artistic conventions
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a 19th-century collective of British artists, emerged as a rebellion against the academic traditions of the Royal Academy of Art. These artists sought a new sense of realism and beauty, inspired by nature, emotion, and spirituality, and rejected what they saw as the shallow formalism of Renaissance art. They aimed to capture something direct, sincere, and heartfelt, a sentiment reflected in their detailed and highly symbolic works.
