Claude Oscar Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in Paris, France. He spent his latter years at his estate at Giverny, where he died on December 5, 1926, at the age of 86. By the age of 19, he was committed to becoming an artist and spent as much time in Paris as possible in pursuit of this goal. Monet refused to study at the traditional prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts, choosing instead a private art school, the Academie Suisse (Paul Cezanne attended the same school).
In the 1860s Monet associated with the painter Edouard Manet. His association with Manet, a pre-Impressionist, had a formative effect on Monet, who along with other French painters such as Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley, went on to form the Impressionist school. Like Pissarro, Monet lived in London from 1870-71 during the Franco-Prussian war. Upon his return to France, Monet made many trips to the coasts and rural areas to study the effects of light and color.
Monet and the Impressionists were more concerned with how the object in the painting was portrayed, rather than what the object in the painting actually was. Composition and form was loose, and color was applied in bright strokes.The “father” of impressionism, Monet sought to paint scenes as they would appear to a “relaxed” viewer. In fact, the term “Impressionism” is based on an art critic’s negative view of Monet’s 1873 work, Impression: Sunrise.
In 1883, Monet and his family moved to the town of Giverny, on the outskirts of Paris. There, he constructed his famous Japanese footbridge and water-lily garden. Much of his work in his later life depicts his time at Giverny. By the mid-1880s, Monet was regarded as the leader of the impressionist school. Monet painted many series of subjects seen in varying degrees of light, different times of the day, and different seasons of the year. These series include Haystacks, Poplars, the Rouen Cathedral, Water Lilies, and the Japanese Bridge.
View Claude Monet’s Paintings:
The Valley of the Nervia with Dolceacqua
The Thames below Westminster
The Seine near Bougival
The Small Arm of the Seine at Mosseaux, Evening
The Rock Needle Seen through the Porte d Aumont
The Saint-Lazare Station 2
The Seine at Asnieres
The Red Road near Menton
The Riverbank at Petit-Gennevilliers
The Road Bridge at Argenteuil 1
The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect
The Porte d Amont, Etretat
The Promenade at Argenteuil 1
The Old Tree at the Confluence
The Point de la Heve, Honfleur
The Jetty at Le Havre
The Main Path at Giverny
The Luncheon 2
The Iris Garden at Giverny
The Japanese Bridge 10
The Flowered Garden
The Garden at Argenteuil
The Grotta of Port-Domois
The Cliffs of Varengeville, Gust of Wind
The Corniche of Monaco
The Doges Palace Seen from San Giorgio Maggiore 1
The Boulevard de Pontoise at Argenteuil, Snow Effect
The Bridge at Argenteuil
The Bridge over the Water-Lily Pond 1
The Chef, Pere Paul
View More Claude Monet’s Paintings at Allartpainting.com>>
