Claude Oscar Monet

The First Impressionist

Claude Oscar Monet

The First Impressionist

Emily Adams

Where It All BeganClaude Monet was born on November 14th 1840 in Paris, France

His father Claude Adolphe was a grocer and his mother was a singer.

His father felt that the arts brought no money and therefore it was not in Claude Oscar’s best interest to pursue his dream.

Claude felt otherwise, at age 11 he began attending the Le Havre School Of Art.

There he learned masterful techniques under the wing of Jacques-Francois Ochard. Who also introduced him to Eugene Boudin who became one of his most influential mentors.

But at the age of 17, Claude’s mother passed away and thus resulted in him leaving art school to move with his aunt.

Battalions to Brush StrokesIn 1861 Monet joined the First Regiment of African Light

Cavalry. Where he contracted typhoid and left after only 2 years of service.

Since his work was unfinished with the Cavalry, Monet agreed to study art at a university.

In 1862 Monet began studying with Charles Gleyre. During this time he met other influential artists such as Pierre Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frederic Bazille.

Monet met Camille Doncieux, in 1867, when she answered his model call for a painting in a field in

France. She was his most featured woman in his paintings.

She was his first love, and mother of his two children. Though Monet ran into financial difficulties and attempted suicide in 1868. Camille helped him recover and they married in June of 1870 after the birth of their first son Jean.

A Rough JourneyJuly of 1870 the Franco-Prussian War began,

Monet and Camille fled France and took refuge in England. There Claude Monet studied other artists like John Constable and Joseph William Turner.

Though his paintings were denied exhibition by the Royal Academy, Monet refused to give up and in 1871 Monet returned to France where he settled in Argenteuil near Paris.

During his time at Argenteuil, Monet focused more on developing his impressionistic style, painting Impression Sunrise in 1872 which later served to name the impressionist movement.

Trials and TribulationWhen Camille gave birth to their second son, she

became ill with Tuberculosis. And passed away on September 5, 1879. Her passing brought much grief and depression to Monet, but later empowered him to create more masterful pieces.

After this, Ernest Hoshede, a patron of the arts. Invited Claude and his 2 children to live with him and his wife, Alice.

By 1892 Monet married and moved to Giverny with Alice, and her six children. This is where Claude Monet planted a vast garden that later inspired his famous works featuring willows and water lilies.

Although they'd been estranged for many years, Alice waited until after her husband's death to accept Monet's hand in marriage.

Artistic Success• 1874- Exhibits "Impression : sunrise" at

the first Impressionist exhibition in the studio of Nadir.

• 1887- Exhibits in New York thanks to Durand-Ruel.

• 1889-Monet exhibits with Rodin.• 1916 – 1926 he works on The Water Lilies.

Monet offers to donate them to France. Theses paintings will be installed in an architectural space designed specifically for them at the museum of the Orangerie in Paris.

The Later Years

In 1911 Alice passes away, and soon afterwards Jean Monet dies of Tuberculosis in 1914

By 1923 Monet is nearly blind from cataracts. He has an operation in one eye. Which helps his sight.

During his phase with cataracts you notice slightly more red in his art work. Which after his surgery he went back and adjusted some of his pieces.

But in 1926, at the age of 86, Claude Monet died of lung cancer and was buried in Giverny.

What Is Impressionism?

Impressionism was an art movement that began in France in the 19th century.

It showed visible brush strokes, ordinary subject matters, emphasis on light and its changing qualities.

It is a style that avoids traditional harmony, and seeks to invoke the impressions of the composer

Le Promenade La Seine a Vetheuil