A new beginning

Sunrise symbolizes new beginnings and hope. However, Claude Monet was embarrassed when his painting, “Impression, Sunrise” (1872), initially elicited shock and horror from viewers. Critics unleashed a barrage of bitter criticism.

Painted during Monet’s visit to Le Havre, his hometown, the artwork captures the evolving seascape from his hotel room at dawn. The central focus is on two small rowboats with red sunlight reflecting off the sea’s surface. Silhouetted sailboats and the smokestack of steamships are in the background, but their forms are somewhat elusive.

Unveiled at the Exhibition of the Impressionists in Paris in April 1874, the painting marked a pivotal moment in art history. The exhibition, organized by young Impressionist painters, including Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, in opposition to the state-led conservative Paris salon, drew approximately 4,000 visitors. Despite its later historical significance, the exhibition faced harsh criticism at the time.

In a scathing review for the newspaper Le Charivari, critic Lous Leroy famously coined the term “Impressionism” to describe Monet’s painting, declaring, “Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.” He mockingly labeled the event as “The Exhibition of the Impressionists.”

Rather than being disheartened, Monet embraced the criticism, adopting the term “Impressionists” to describe his group, marking the birth of a significant art movement.

Innovation often faces rejection, with the unfamiliar being susceptible to dismissal. However, Monet’s courage and boldness were evident in his paintings and his response to criticism. He and his fellow artists rewrote art history by embracing the derogatory term. If it were not for this painting, we might have been calling the Impressionist painters by an entirely different name. Monet’s resilience transformed disparagement into an opportunity to shape a new chapter in art history, portraying a more vibrant spirit than the red sun in his painting.