Lecture Notes: Monet's Paintings of Rouen Cathedral

Overview

• Focus on Claude Monet's series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral.
• Over 30 canvases created during late winters and early springs of 1892 and 1893.
• Located a little over an hour north of Paris.

Monet's Technique

• Rented space across from cathedral to paint different light effects.
• Multiple canvases for different times of day and weather conditions.
• Emphasized capturing ephemeral qualities of light.
• Process involved switching canvases as the sun moved.
• Not a quick process: layers of paint indicated a lengthy painting duration.

Themes and Irony

• Focus was on capturing fleeting effects despite the time taken to complete paintings.
• Subject was not just light, but also how light constructs form.
• Chose a medieval cathedral with religious and historical significance.
• Rendered with a light, almost filigree form, lacking heavy three-dimensionality.

Gothic and Nationalistic Elements

• Gothic cathedrals as symbols of divine light.
• Complexity of light and shadow on the cathedral's surface was appealing to Monet.
• Nationalistic suggestions, as Gothic style is strongly identified with France.
• Representation of grand history through a late 19th-century lens.

Exhibition and Optical Effects

• Paintings were meant to be seen collectively.
• Exhibited together to highlight optical effects of different times of day.
• Experience includes morning mist, afternoon sun, and their effects on perception.

Transformation through Light

• The cathedral's stone appears mutable, reshaped by light.
• Architecture is transformed through light, emphasizing optical triumph over the physical.
• Gothic architecture saw physical as a symbol for the unseen; Monet emphasized visible experiential truth.

Conclusion

• Monet's work represents a shift toward the importance of visual experience over symbolic meaning in architecture.