Leicester Square at Night 1901

Claude Monet painted Leicester Square at night with oil on canvas, capturing the essence of a bustling city scene. The canvas is alive with strokes of orange, yellow, green and blue, colors that dance together to recreate the hazy atmosphere of a night scene. Monet's application of paint is very gestural and impulsive. If you look closely, you can see how he layers the paint, one color on top of the other, creating depth. The impasto is thick in places, especially where he wants to give the impression of light reflecting off surfaces. It looks like he used a variety of brushes, from thin ones to create fine lines, to broader ones for the larger areas of color. The beauty of this painting lies in its abstraction. It’s not about a perfect representation of Leicester Square, but rather about capturing a feeling, an impression. This piece reminds me of Turner's paintings, especially his seascapes. Both artists share a fascination with light and atmosphere, and both are masters of capturing the sublime in their work. It's like they're both whispering to us about the transient nature of beauty, about how everything is constantly changing.