Old Saint-Lazare Station (Gare Saint-Lazare), 1877
Claude Monet
Claude Monet’s name is spelled like this MONET, but you pronounce it MO-NAY
Claude Monet was an artist born in 1840…a long time ago before we had diesel trains, cars and electricity. (He died in 1926.)
He was an impressionist painter. Does anyone know what an impressionist is?
People who paint in the impressionist style….
· you can see brush strokes on the painting
· they didn’t mix colors completely and painted wet paint onto wet paint for a different look
· is very open (lots of open space in the painting)
· light is used to show time passing
· everyday things are painted (like trains and train stations)
· trying to show movement in the painting
· an interesting angle (looking up or down or from another area)
· the artists often worked outside, not in a studio/room to use sunlight
· artists often painted outside, “in the open air”
When he painted this painting he rented a studio near the train station Saint-Lazare in France. Because he was painting in a different way than a lot of other artists, he went to the train station to paint. He got to see life just as it was happening in the busy train station.
Does anyone know where France is?
Has anyone been to France or speak French?
What do you notice about the COLOR in Monet’s St. Lazare painting?
· What colors do you see the most of in his painting? There are lots of colors, aren’t there?
· What do the colors make you think or feel?
o Is it hot or cold?
o Is it sunny or cloudy?
o Is it the beginning or end of the day?
What do you notice about the TEXTURE in Monet’s St. Lazare painting?
· Is it smooth looking?
· How do the edges of the buildings and people and trains look? Do the edges look straight and clean or kind of rough?
· How does the smoke from the steam engines look? Does it look real to you?
· Does the painting look like it’s “in focus” or “fuzzy?” When you or your parents take a picture of something, do you expect the photo to look like this or clearer?
· When things look fuzzy in a photo or in this painting, what does it mean? Does that mean things are moving?
What THINGS do you see in Monet’s painting of the train station?
· If you get really close to the painting, what do you see?
· If you get really far away from the painting, what do you see?
· Train engine and another train car – can you tell if they are coming into the station, leaving the station or stopped?
· Steam or is it clouds?
· Train station – lots of beams and roof. What do you think the station is made of – glass, wood, steel? Can you tell for sure? (It is made of iron and glass.)
· Rail road tracks – which directions do they go?
· People – can you tell if they are workers or people going to board the train?
· Buildings – can you tell what kind of buildings are behind the station?
· Do you see lots of open space or sky in the picture?
What STORY do you think Monet is making with his painting?
· Can you make a prediction about what would happen in the next painting if Monet painted another one after this one?
· How do you think the station sounds? What do you hear in the train station?
· How do you think the station smells?
How does the LIGHT look in this painting?
· Is the station dark or light?
· What do you think the weather is doing outside the train station? Do you see where the sunshine might be casting a shadow?
· Can you see the reflection of light through the roof onto the floor of the station?
· Do you think that the inside of the station would look different if Monet were painting it from outside the station instead of inside?
What SHAPES do you see in this painting?
· Straight lines – where? (roof, edges of station, train tracks, train station support)
· Squares – where? (roof, one train car)
· Triangle – where? (roof edge)
· Circle – where? (train engine, in the steams and clouds)
· Where do you think Monet was sitting to paint this painting? On the tracks? On the station platform? On another train? (He had to get permission from the station to do his paintings!)
Gare St. Lazare