Weeping Willow essays

Weeping Willow essays Weeping Willow was painted from 1918 1919 by the French artist, Claude Monet. The painting is oil on canvas with a restricted palette. This painting is one of ten weeping willow paintings that he painted in his late seventies (Kimball). This piece of artwork was acquired by the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas in 1996 and is part of the museums permanent collection. Monet uses a restricted palette with this piece of artwork. He uses oranges, reds, and yellows instead of his usual pastel palette. Weeping Willow was painted during the time of World War I, and it reflects his sorrow and determination to be strong during this period of anxiety while the nation was struggling to be victorious. It is very interesting to notice that on the left side of the painting the colors are more of a cool tone with darker colors and on the right side the colors are warm with lighter colors. The brush strokes are very bold and thickly applied which give it a sense of depth. It seemed as if to me, that the tree could just surround me and filter out all sunlight and isolate me from the world. It almost makes you feel like you are smothering under all of the branches and leaves. After looking at it for a short period of time I felt a sense of depression and gloom reflecting from the artwork. It was very interesting for me to find out from some other observers talking about the landscape, at the Kimball, that Monet had painted this piece after having cataract surgery on his eyes and that his color perception was temporarily affected (Kimball). I was moved by this piece of artwork and would really like to view other paintings of his around this same time period. It obviously was a very depressing time in his life, during World War I, and his brush strokes reflect it very well. They have a downward motion that also symbolizes depression or feeling down. Weeping willow ...