Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son is a painting by the French artist Claude Monet, a founder and one of the most outstanding representatives of impressionism. Painted in 1875, this canvas became one of Monet’s most well-known and influential works (Brodskaïa and Kalitina). The two figures in the painting are Monet’s wife Camille and his son Jean.
The lower third of the painting shows a grassy area, and the other two-thirds contain the figures of a woman and a little boy behind her. Monet’s wife and child are the focal points of the composition. The lower viewpoint allows seeing the blue sky with white clouds behind the figures, which creates a unique lightning effect (Daily Dose of Art). Placed in the distance from the woman, the boy’s figure also gives depth to the painting; this compositional technique guides the eye of the observer diagonally downward, which was common for several other works by Monet.
The use of colors and light in this painting is truly impressive. The sun is shining on the figures from the background, casting a shadow. The strokes of colors are warm, bright, and vibrant, mixed together with the muted grays of the woman’s dress. It reflects a whole range of colors around her: the blues of the sky, the yellow of the flowers, and light, complementary strokes of purple (Joy of Museums Virtual Tours). Monet uses these colors and careless brush strokes to convey an atmosphere of a breezy summer day.
Woman with a Parasol is a genre painting, which is a type of art that depicts ordinary people and their everyday activities. Thus, the painting gives the impression that the mother and son were interrupted during their daily walk in the field. It can be suggested that the woman’s dress, veil, and parasol symbolize her status, and the grassy slope symbolizes the countryside that Monet preferred to the cities and industry. Overall, the painting creates a unique mood of a fleeting memory captured in the moment.
Works Cited
Brodskaïa, Natalia, and Nina Kalitina. The ultimate book on Claude Monet. Parkstone International, 2019.
Daily Dose of Art. “Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son by Claude Monet.” 2022.
Joy of Museums Virtual Tours. “Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son – Joy of Museums Virtual Tours.” 2020.