LITERARY PAPERS 
356 
For Monet’s pictures are essentially harmonies of color-tones, 
in distinction to Renoir’s pictures, which are color discords. 
The color-scale of Monet’s pictures is original, and essen¬ 
tially calculated to produce upon the observer an intense psy¬ 
chological impression. As the pitch is high or low, so his colors 
vary in strength. Some of his most beautiful water and sea 
effects are reached by combinations of pale Nile green, blue 
and violet tints, of varying shades. 
Some of his views are bathed in an atmosphere of magic 
grace and purity. The tone pitch is often taken from the visual 
forms. In No. 131, “Cap D’Antifer,” the prevailing tones 
are violet and lilac colors. It is a late afternoon scene; the 
cliff stands out with wonderful distinctness; along its rugged 
edge runs the road, twisting and turning, but always true to 
a parallelism with the coast-line, our line of dissymmetry. The 
light through the picture follows the same line, though the 
light is symmetrical with regard to the oblique line, for it is 
equal in intensity on both sides, and it fades away equally 
towards the right of the picture. 
To obtain their full effect, the pictures of the Impression¬ 
ists should be studied in the light in which the scene was 
painted; and this is a very important point to be remembered 
in judging the works of these artists. A noticeable example of 
this was a picture by Besnard, “ By Candle Light.” The light 
of day detracts a great deal from the beauty of this painting. 
Not only does Monet excel in painting water in motion, 
but also in representing it when at rest. No. 28, “Breaking 
of Ice on the Seine,” is an example. The middle distance is 
the point to which the eye is attracted. We feel how cold the 
water must be. Its marvelous transparency and depth are 
startling, and in contrast with the opacity of the blocks of 
ice floating on its surface. It is like a silvered mirror, with 
here and there the coating effaced. The foreground is rough, 
and in blue, green, and gray tints. The picture is constructed 
on the principle of dissymmetry, and the effects of distance, 
depression, and rising ground are well portrayed. The valley, 
between the lines of trees which follow the bend of the river 
and the distant hills, is observable only after long study. 
