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POLITIKOFF

Scientists confirm the theory on what inspired the French painter Claude Monet

Politiko 2023-03-23 19:12:44

In a letter to his wife in March 1901, pioneering French painter Claude Monet complained about the bad weather that prevented him from working, as well as another apparent obstacle to his creativity.

"Everything is as good as dead, no train, no smoke, no boat, nothing to stir the inspiration a little."

Monet, now known as the founder of Impressionism, was in London during one of three trips he made to the city between 1899 and 1901, which produced over 100 paintings. His reference to smoke, which would have come in abundance from the steam engines of boats and trains, as a possible creative spark seems to support a theory long held by some art historians about what lay behind the distinctive haze of dreams in Monet's work. Now a recent study by climate scientists has found new evidence to confirm it.

Scientists confirm the theory on what inspired the French painter Claude Monet

"I work on air pollution, and looking at the paintings of Turner, Whistler and Monet at the Tate in London and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, I noticed stylistic transformations in their works. The contours of their paintings became more blurred, the palette appeared whiter, and the style changed from more figurative to more impressionistic. These changes match physical expectations of how air pollution affects light."

The team looked at over 100 paintings by Monet and the British painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, who was active before Monet, with the aim of finding an empirical basis for the hypothesis that the paintings capture increasingly polluted skies during the Industrial Revolution. The focus was on these two artists because they prolifically painted landscapes and cityscapes, often with repetitive motifs, according to the study's authors.

Scientists confirm the theory on what inspired the French painter Claude Monet

In the period covered by the paintings, 1796-1901, a large amount of coal was mined to support industrial production and steam engines. Britain alone went from producing 2.9 million tons of coal per year in 1700 to 275 million tons by 1900, leading to significant air pollution that caused widespread health problems. Coal soot created a thick, dark fog, and the number of foggy days in London tripled between 1850 and 1890, from 25 to 75 a year, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Scientists confirm the theory on what inspired the French painter Claude Monet

"In general, air pollution makes objects look foggier, makes it harder to identify their edges, and gives the scene a whiter hue because pollution reflects visible light of all wavelengths."