You can use Japanese Footbridge as an introduction to series work, and as a warm-up or break during a large art project or drawing.

After looking at the artwork together and discussing it, you can show your students a series of Monet’s work. The artist often revisited the same subject over and over, painting it from a new perspective or with a new technique each time. You can start with Monet’s Water Lilies (Nymphéas), also in the Museum’s collection, or search the internet or your library for more examples.

Explore the way Monet developed one subject many times, and the idea of reworking. Place the different examples of his work in a timeline. How did his technique and style change as time went on? What new colors, textures, and perspectives did he take?

Does looking at Monet’s varied styles of work inspire students to view their own work in a new light?

Middle school students expect instant gratification. In art class, they are reluctant to make multiple sketches, rework an artwork, or even create more than one artwork about the same topic or using the same materials. Learning about Monet’s endurance with his artwork by studying an artist who made a series of the same images over and over will help students see that good art takes endurance. Series work and multiples of one idea can lead artists to perfect their craft.

• Look closely at the composition. How does the artist divide the space?
• Describe the brushstrokes and how the paint is applied. Do the brushstrokes imply that the subject was carefully considered or quickly captured? Explain your reasoning.
• This is an almost-abstracted image of a bridge over a pond. What elements does the artist include that prevents the viewers from immediately knowing the subject of the painting?
• The artist was fascinated with light and atmosphere. How is light captured in this work of art? How would you describe the light? Is it warm or stark?
• What type of mood does the artist create? How does the use of warm, earthy hues add to this tone?
• How would the mood of this work change if it were painted in cool, blue tones?
• How does the artist use color and brushstrokes to depict an immediate impression of light and atmosphere and the sensation of pleasure that it brings?

 

• Discuss the use of the bridge as a means to spatially separate the foreground and background. Do you think this work would be as powerful if the bridge was not included in the composition?
• Do you think the artist intentionally meant to confuse the viewer?
• The artist attempted to capture the transitory effects of light. Do you think he successfully achieved this goal? Why or why not?
• The artist’s contemplation of natural beauty and his desire to capture the essence of nature on canvas led him to a completely new style of painting that would eventually be known as Impressionism. How does this work embody the style of Impressionism?
• This artist was one of the first artists to paint en plein air (outdoors). How do you think the direct study of nature affect his depiction of nature?
• The artist often painted the same view in nature under different conditions of light and season. In your opinion, why do you think the artist would chose to paint the same scene over and over?
• The artist said, “For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment, but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life—the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value.” How does this quote apply to the painting?

No subject is more readily identified with artist Claude Monet than his private garden and lily pond, both located at his home within the small French village of Giverny. The tangled brushstrokes and thickly applied paint of The Japanese Footbridge at Giverny yield an almost abstracted canvas that is unusual to Monet’s style. However, this work does not stray far from the artist’s typical repertoire as it reveals his fascination with light and atmosphere. Monet’s great pleasure in the contemplation of natural beauty and his desire to capture the essence of nature on canvas led him to the completely new style of painting later termed Impressionism.

 

Monet’s harmonious combination of unmixed colors and varied brushstrokes produced masterful studies in light. These paintings reveal the artist’s immediate impression of a scene while also refusing to be completely legible. The loud color scheme and vigorously applied paint immediately attracts the eye. The flora, sky, and water are depicted through quickly applied, thick layers of paint that blend together at a distance to reveal the scene. They unite the composition and provide a framework for a uniform background while darker, smaller brushstrokes form the arc of the footbridge. The bridge horizontally divides the canvas and provides the scene with a sense of symmetry.

 

Conjuring fiery, dark evocations of twilight, the warm, earthy hues of red, teal, and gold overwhelm the canvas. The viewer’s attention is focused onto the paint itself rather than being drawn into the scene. Just as the background appears to dissolve into the water in the foreground, the left side of the bridge is enveloped by the glow of nature and seems to be melting into the atmosphere. Floating lily pads and mirrored reflections assume equal stature within the painting as distinctions between solid objects and transitory light are blurred. Monet had always been interested in reflections, seeing their fragmented forms as a natural equivalent for his own broken brushwork.

 

Works like this painting show Monet’s interest in types of compositions that became the forerunners of abstraction. After many years of struggle, during which Monet experienced extreme poverty, the painter finally achieved much financial, critical, and popular success. It was during this chapter in his life that he was able to purchase his home in Giverny and employ staff to help cultivate the beautiful gardens now associated with his paintings. By painting en plein air (outdoors), Monet was able to showcase his analysis of his environment under varying conditions of light and season.

 

“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment, but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life—the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value.” –Claude Monet