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In 1866, while painting the view of the Church of Saint Germain l’Auxerrois (National Gallery, Inv. No. A I 984), Claude Monet found himself wavering between a dark-toned, accurate architectural depiction and the dissolution of figures in light. This work marks an early piece of Impressionism. Eight years later, his vibrant painting titled "Summer" from 1874 can be regarded as a programmatic image of the Impressionist movement. In the spring of 1874, Monet and his fellow artists showcased their works—previously rejected by the official Salon—at the studio of the photographer Nadar on Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. A critique by Louis Leroy in *Le Charivari* on April 25, 1874, which referenced Monet's painting *Impression, Sunrise* from 1872 (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris), mockingly labeled them as "Impressionists," thereby coining a name that endures in art history. Among the paintings Monet created in the summer of 1874 is this sun-drenched landscape featuring a wide meadow with hazy blue mountains in the distance. Monet captured the grass, trees, mountains, and figures with short, colorful, and delicately applied brushstrokes, convincingly conveying bright light and atmospheric mood. The figures—Monet's wife Camille, his son Jean, and a third person—are highlighted by their bright clothing but are not portrayed more distinctly than the wind-blown trees or the colorful shadows on the yellow grass. As Leroy rightly observed, Monet's focus was on pure impression. Paul Cézanne later remarked to Ambroise Vollard that Monet was "only an eye, but, by God, what an eye!" Around the same time, Hans Thoma in Munich, influenced by Böcklin, also created a painting titled "Summer" (1872, National Gallery, Inv. No. A II 510). Thoma's vivid symbolism was met with both praise and criticism from contemporary critics, depending on their aesthetic stance. However, upon closer examination, these two summer depictions reveal surprising similarities: in both cases, the downplaying of figures avoids any genre-specific elements, rendering the fleeting moment timeless. |