The 20th century not only marked a new beginning in the social, political and economic world, but a time of change in the art world as well. Two revolutionary artists to influence this time period were Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne, who each found new ways of representing nature, but differed greatly in style.
As one of the great leaders of the Impressionist art movement in France, Monet studied the ways in which outdoor light plays upon nature. His technique was not meant to be very precise—which makes his images most effective when seen at a distance—yet it is always clear what his paintings are.
Cezanne's paintings, on the other hand, show early evidence of what would eventually be known as the Cubist art movement (which incidentally developed out of a reaction to Impressionism). Cezanne was like Monet in that he did not present a clear, concise picture of the world, but he was totally different from Monet in how he went about it.
