Claude Monet - Gare St Lazare

During the winters of 1876 and 1877 Monet painted the train station St Lazare in Paris at least seven times. He wasn’t a well known painter at the time and rumour has it that he put on his best suit of clothes and presented himself as one of the famous Parisian Salon painters of the day to the unsuspecting station master. It worked, and Monet was allowed to set himself up in the station and paint these wonderful masterpieces. Not only was he left undisturbed but the stationmaster gave orders to the drivers "If M. Monet needs more steam, then give him more steam". And so Monet had the perfect setting to explore what was to become a theme for many years to come, that is the effects of defused light on a the modern landscape.
Paris was going through a lot of changes at the time. Napoleon 111 had ordered a modernisation programme of Paris which was to be undertaken by Baron Haussman. Through the steam and smoke of the painting you can see some of the new buildings in the background. Impressionists often used modern settings as the inspiration for their work. Monet was particularly interested in the diffused light caused by the effect of steam on man made surfaces.
There has been little change to the view that Monet painted. You can take a train form that very station to Argentuile, where he painted his series of regatta pictures. What has changed though is the replacement of steam with diesel, and with it the loss of the atmosphere that inspired Monet.
Look at the picture and see how your eye is led in using the train tracks in the centre and the lines of perspective marked by the steel girders, roof and railway walls.The heavy buildings to the left of the picture are balanced by the people on the right. But look at the steam engine just off centre, the wheels of the train are off the track. Sometimes an artist is so carried away with capturing the essence of the scene that there can be fundamental problems with the details.

Degas doesn't hold back.

The Bellelli Family

Some people believe that you have to have a basic knowledge of art history to understand paintings, but this is rarely the case. Certainly it helps to know some background but most art is created so that everyone can react to it and not just the chosen few. In school we learned to break down the lines of poetry and discuss the symbolism etc. but even without doing that the sound of the poem alone could move us, just like hearing French or Italian spoken can be a pleasurable experience even if we can’t speak a word.

            Edgar Degas painted a picture of some family members in the years 1858-1860 in which the symbolism was not so subtle to those associated with it for them to allow it to be seen publicly. It was kept hidden until after the death of all those included in the portrait.

            The painting is set in an upper class French living room and it features Degas’ aunt, uncle by marriage, and their two daughters. It is a strange grouping as the aunt and her two girls stands aloof from her husband . He is painted almost with his back to us, separated from the rest of the family by a vertical line made up from the mirror, fireplace and table. Degas has purposely cut him off. It is because had no time for his lazy, disagreeable uncle in law. He felt that his aunt was trapped in a bad marriage with Baron Bellelli who had been exiled from Naples for his political activities. So, Degas exiled him in his own painting.           

            The children are painted to show their personalities. The younger one, whom he described as a mischievous tomboy, sits with one leg tucked under her, while her older sister adopts the ladylike pose which best describes her gentle nature.  Degas uses the younger child to glance in the direction of the father as the link so that the painting would not be seen as two separate halves. The aunt who is expecting her third child looks sad and worn out, probably due to her marital situation, together with the fact that her father has just died. She is dressed in mourning clothes and stands under the portrait of her dead father.

            A dog is a of loyalty but the dog in this painting is walking out of the picture on the uncle’s side. Only his head is back and hind quarters are visible, unlike the dog that stands between the couple in the Arnolfini Marriage.

 

The Arnolfini Marriage



Look at the painting by Degas and see if you can add anything to back up Degas' feeling of distain for his uncle or his comment on his marriage and feel free to include your comments below