Claude Monet

I discovered this post impressionist painting which is one of many paintings by Claude Monet in his lily pond series. Personally I love paintings that center around nature and this painting caught my eye. The one detail that I find different from a painting of a mountain or the ocean is that this painting seemed to feature the one little pink flower in a vast blue background. It is swallowed by an overwhelming amount of greens and blues yet the small flower still radiates over everything. In a passage read in class, when Clark was studying Poussin's Landscape with a Calm he made note of how the colors purposely chosen by Poussin stirred emotions in Clark. Similar to Clark, when I look at the blues and greens I have a feeling of tranquility because the colors seemed refreshing and still. There are no disturbances in the water and the lilies are just at peace. According to Sontag, what I am about to say would be over analyzing the work rather than simply considering the content. Yes, it is a painting of a pond, but I think the way the colors play out in the painting there is a deeper level. In the mist of all this the blue is the bright pink flower. To me, that symbolizes the beauty of uniqueness. That one characteristic contrasts with the same repetitive colors and sets it apart. All attention goes to the beautiful flower which drifts alone but it definitely goes unnoticed. I could not get over how pretty the flower was even though I see flowers all the time. I agree with Winterson who says, " [art] is a constant exchange of emotion." This one flower makes me feel like uniqueness is good and everything that sets me apart from everyone else makes me feel special.