Claude Monet

Claude Monet was a founder and key figure of the Impressionist movement. Born in France in 1840, Monet exhibited both a natural talent and keen interest in art. He started off drawing and selling charcoal caricatures as a boy and went on to study art at the La Havre secondary school of the arts. Monet lived in Paris for several years after finishing school, painting and befriending other young artists, one of whom was Edouard Manet.

Throughout his lengthy career, Monet displayed an affinity with nature through his paintings. Much of his art is devoted to portraying impressions of nature while focusing on the effects of light and colour. Not satisfied with what was being taught at art school, he began to study under Charles Gleyre in 1862. Through Gleyre he met Pierre-August Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille. Together they painted en plein air and experimented with techniques that would later on become key components of Impressionism. Monet painted realistic landscapes in his early work, but in the 1870’s began focusing on how changing light could affect everyday objects and scenes.
Monet’s 1872 work Impression, Sunrise inspired the name of the art movement. It was originally a derisive comment from a critic, but the Impressionists embraced the term. Monet used broad and broken brush strokes and painted quickly in an effort to catch light in his work. Most of his work has a spontaneous quality, as if viewing a first impression.

As Monet became more involved with the play of light and colour on objects he began “series” painting, using the changing light of different times of day, seasons and weather on the same subject. Starting in the 1880’s and until his death in 1926, Monet’s “series” paintings have become a cornerstone of the Impressionist movement and some of the most highly sought after and recognizable paintings in the world. These series of paintings include Haystacks, Rouen Catherdral and Water Lilies.
Monet purchased property in Giverny in 1883 and featured it in many of his works thereafter. His very famous Water Lilies series was painted at his home as was much of his work at that period. Monet was partial to painting scenes of controlled nature and his gardens were a beautiful and compelling setting.

Monet started to have problems with his vision as early as 1905, but wasn’t diagnosed as having cataracts until 1912 and he underwent surgery in 1923 to have them removed. His paintings during this period have an overall reddish tone, which is a common characteristic of cataract sufferers.

At the age of 86, Monet passed away after battling lung cancer. A prolific painter and true visionary, Monet left behind an impressive legacy.