Claude Monet. Photograph by Nadar. 1899.
Oscar Claude Monet was born on November 15, 1840 in Paris, France. His family moved to the port city of Le Havre, France when he was still a young boy. He loved to draw as a child. He began drawing caricatures of people when he was in school.
Claude entered a school for the arts when he was about 11 years old! His mom was happy he wanted to become an artist, but his dad wanted him to take over the family grocery store! Claude met some other artists and he began to use oil paints outside to make landscape paintings.
In 1857, Claude’s mom died. He moved to Paris to study art at the Academie Suisse. He was there for about a year when he was drafted into the army. He was sent to Algiers to fight in the war. He became sick with typhoid fever in the army and returned home a few years later.
After the war, Monet returned to his painting. He continued to paint outdoor scenes or “En plein-air“. His paintings were becoming accepted by the art critics in Paris. He then decided to take on large project he called Women in the Garden. This was a huge painting, over 8 feet tall! He painted outside in the natural light. It was a normal everyday scene. He spent a lot of time on it, but the critics did not like it. He became depressed and was also out of money.
Women in the Garden, Claude Monet. 1866–1867, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
In 1870 Claude moved with is new wife, Camille, to London. There he met art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel who helped him show his artwork. Monet began to study the the city of London and the River Thames.
Monet became friends with several of the leading artists of the time including Pierre Renoir, Edouard Manet, and Camille Pissarro. Together they formed the Society of Anonymous Painters, Sculptors, and Printers. They wanted to experiment with art and not do the same kind of classical art that the critics of Paris liked.
They had an art show in 1874. One critic called it the Exhibition of the Impressionists. The term “impressionist” was used to imply that the art was just an impression of something and not completed. It was meant as an insult.
Impression Sunrise (Soleil Levant). Claude Monet. 1872.
The critic got the word “impression” from one of Monet’s paintings- Impression: Sunrise. Monet’s use of light was unique. His painting was a great example of this new style of art known as Impressionism.
Explore Claude Monet’s garden on ArtBabble, featuring the painting “The Japanese Footbridge.”
Monet loved nature and art. He made a water garden at his home in Giverny, France. Monet diverted a small stream and form a pond, which he surrounded with flowers and bushes. He called his garden his greatest piece of art. He painted more than 200 paintings of his awesome lily pond!
Bridge at Giverny. Ms. Hvizdos’ 1st Grade Class. 2015. Arcylic Paintings on Paper with Oil Pastel. (Multiple exposure)