Claude Monet

1840-1926

Monet was a French painter and the leader of Impressionist Style.

Impression:

Sunshine 1872

Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840 in Paris.He was the second son of Claude Adolphe Monet and Louise Justine Aubrée Monet.

His father wanted him to go into the family grocery business, but Monet wanted to become an artist. His mother was a singer.

On the first of April 1851, Monet entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts. Locals knew him well for his charcoal caricatures, which he would sell for ten to twenty francs.

On the beaches of Normandy in about 1856/1857, he met fellow artist Eugene Boudin, who became his mentor and taught him to use oil paints. Boudin taught Monet "en plein air" (outdoor) techniques for painting.Bouding was a famous marine painter.

When Monet traveled to Paris to visit the Louvre, he witnessed painters copying from the old masters. Having brought his paints and other tools with him, he would instead go and sit by a window and paint what he saw.

Monet died of lung cancer on 5 December 1926 at the age of 86 and is buried in the Giverny church cemetery.

His famous home, garden and water lily pond were bequeathed by his son Michel, his only heir, to the French Academy of Fine Arts (part of the Institute de France) in 1966. Through the Foundation Claude Monet, the house and gardens were opened for visit in 1980, following restoration. In addition to souvenirs of Monet and other objects of his life, the house contains his collection of Japanese woodcut prints. The house is one of the two main attractions of Giverny, which hosts tourists from all over the world.

Monet’s Charcoal Caricatures

The Woman in the Green Dress 1866

Monet's Camille or The Woman in the Green Dress (La femme à la robe verte), painted in 1866, brought him recognition and was one of many works featuring his future wife, Camille Doncieux

Women in the Garden

Camille was the model for the figures in Women in the Garden of the following year, as well as for On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt, 1868, pictured here. Shortly thereafter, Camille became pregnant and gave birth to their first child, Jean.

On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt, 1868

Camille Monet on Her Deathbed

1879Monet and Camille Doncieux had married just before the war (28 June 1870)and, after their excursion to London and Zaandam, they had moved to Argenteuil, in December 1871. It was during this time that Monet painted various works of modern life. Camille became ill in 1876. They had a second son, Michel, on 17 March 1878, (Jean was born in 1867). This second child weakened her already fading health. In that same year, he moved to the village of Vétheuil. On 5 September 1879, Camille Monet died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-two; Monet painted her on her death bed.

Monet’s Home at Giverny and Some of His Paintings

At the beginning of May 1883, Monet and his large family rented a house and 2 acres (8,100 m2) from a local landowner. The house was situated near the main road between the towns of Vernon and Gasny at Giverny. There was a barn that doubled as a painting studio, orchards and a small garden. The house was close enough to the local schools for the children to attend and the surrounding landscape offered an endless array of suitable motifs for Monet's work.

Japanese Bridge

Monet was exceptionally fond of painting controlled nature: his own gardens in Giverny, with its water lilies, pond, and bridge.

Japanese Bridge

Gardens at Giverny

Water lilies

Le Jardin a Giverny