The size of the canvas he used was so big that he had to dig a trench in which he lowered the lower side of the canvas to be able to paint the upper part while maintaining a single point of view for the whole painting.
He had designed this painting for exhibition at the Salon to be held in 1867.
The Salon exhibition was a big deal at the time. Many painters had gained a reputation as a result of the Salon exhibition. It was a great platform for young painters to showcase their prowess.
The painting was however rejected on grounds of Monet's heavy brushstrokes. The style would turn out to be one of the trademarks of impressionism.
The judges ruled that the painting lacked the element of a relationship with each other, with regard to the figures in the group. The painting also disregarded most of the academic art conventional guidelines set at the time.
The rejection of this painting was not a surprise to him was not a surprise to him as he had no regard for academic art at the time. He had devoted himself to studying the character of sunshine in relation to painting and Plein air painting.
The setting of the painting is a garden of a property Monet had rented. The property belonged to Monet's cousin Paul Eugene Lecadre. His technique for this painting involved painting the shadows, the coloured light and sunshine patches penetrating through the foliage.
It also included low contrast reflections glowing in the background. The figure in the painting was posed by Lecadre's wife, dressed in a white dress whose design was part of the fashion of the day.
This image of the lady (Jeanne Marguerite Lecadre) creates an aura of loneliness and sorrow around the painting while the sunshine patches and bright reflections of the dress bring about a balance in the composition.
The painting is a good illustration of the relationship between light and colour. Monet is held in high regard as the best of his time when it comes to French impressionism.
Monet worked with other like-minded artists, whose works had also been rejected at the conservative exhibition "The Salon." Towards the end of 1873, Monet partnered with Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Alfred Sisley to for the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers which would exhibit their works independently.
Their first exhibition was in April 1874 and Monet used the opportunity to exhibit his work that would have a lasting impression on many hence solidifying the group's name as far as French impressionism is concerned. His works at the exhibition were inspired by renowned painters such as Camille Pissarro and Edouard Manet. Other famous paintings done by Claude Monet include:
Bain à la Grenouillère - This was a painting of a bathing resort with popular middle-class boats of that time. Before painting the Bain à la Grenouillère Monet had described it on September 25th, 1869 with regard to a dream he had had. He would work on the painting that year.
Woman with a Parasol - Monet did this painting in the year 1875. The painting depicted his first wife Camille Doncieux and his son Jean. The painting is a good illustration of Monet's focus on light and colour rather than line and shape. The painting shows Camille holding a parasol while appearing to hold a gaze to something at a far distance.
