Meadow at Giverny 1888

Claude Monet created this landscape painting called "Meadow at Giverny" using oil on canvas. At first glance, the painting presents a field of blurred colors—soft blues, greens, yellows, and pinks that blend almost indistinctly, creating a dreamy, atmospheric scene. Monet’s use of broken brushstrokes, or "impressions", is key to understanding the painting's form. Color and light are given precedence over clarity, and tangible objects, such as the trees and flowers, are presented through shimmering visual sensations. The landscape's semiotic function is dissolved to an expression of pure perception, challenging the traditional role of painting as a mirror to reality. The painting offers a philosophical query into the nature of seeing, representing a shift towards modernism where the subjective experience gains prominence. It suggests that what we perceive is not a fixed reality but a fleeting impression that changes with light and the viewer's perspective.