Claude Monet's paintings are in fashion

It just happened: climate change activists threw a good portion of mash at a Claude Monet painting last Sunday, October 23. The target was the painting “Les Meules” exhibited in the Barberini Museum in Potsdam, near Berlin.

Because if you have to hit the media (in this case to warn about climate change), what corresponds is to do it with the works of artists of such magnitude, who are valued and known in practically every corner of the world. The case of Claude Monet is paradigmatic, and his works, like those of Vincent Van Gogh, have not only been transformed into long-awaited exhibitions, but also decoration for t-shirts, dresses, posters or coffee mugs.

Unraveling the reason why this type of art is so popular seems to lie in the motivation for the term impressionism. It all started with a joke, an ironic nickname that someone gave to the painters who in the second half of the 19th century defended the idea of ​​painting reality not as we see it, but, better, as we feel it: they put the objective view of the world before the subjective and, even more, the emotional. Where their contemporaries most faithful to tradition imposed classic forms, sharpness and the representation of figures with pure lines, the Impressionists proposed deliberate imprecision in drawing, vagueness, saturation of color and an unprecedented exaltation of light. They defended, in short, before the vision of reality, their impression on us.

“Impression, dawn,” Monet precisely titled the painting from which his detractors, ironically, began to speak of 'impressionism'. In this way, the common characteristic of all the works of one of the greatest representatives of impressionist art is to impregnate the fabric with a subtle and balanced combination of colors, which seems to fill with beauty and calm any space where you wish to place the reproduction of one of his works.

Monet, jewelry and slippers

As is known, the painting of Monet and the Impressionists is much more than paintings and the logic to take what is painted to different scenarios to be in an axiom related to the fact that Impressionism represents light. Thus, if it has great illumination, then it has great beauty.

In 2019, fashion designer José Zafra presented a collection of dresses completely inspired by Monet's series on water lilies and before that in 2018 a collection of high-end jewelry by Austrian artists was presented, called “Orangerie en Oro Rosa”. that took each of Monet's strokes to inspire a series of pieces made by hand using the fire enamel technique, capturing the works of art of the French artist in rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces, among other accessories.

In 2020 , the Vans sneaker brand presented a collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), with an exhibition of footwear, clothing and accessories inspired by the collection present in the museum with paintings selected by both parties, with artists Vasily Kandinsky, Salvador Dalí and it was no: Claude Monet... PS: good luck if you want to get a pair.