In-Arts
French painter, initiator, leader, and unswerving
advocate of the Impressionist style. He is regarded
as the archetypal Impressionist in that his devotion
to the ideals of the movement was unwavering
throughout his long career, and it is fitting that one
of his pictures--Impression: Sunrise (Musée
Marmottan, Paris; 1872)--gave the group his name.
Montet's youth was spent in Le Havre, where he first
excelled as a caricaturist but was then converted to
landscape painting by his early mentor Boudin, from
whom he derived his firm predilection for painting
out of doors. In 1859 he studied in Paris at the
Atelier Suisse and formed a friendship with Pissarro.
After two years' military service in Algiers, he
returned to Le Havre and met Jongkind, to whom he
said he owed `the definitive education of my eye'. He
then, in 1862, entered the studio of Gleyre in Paris
and there met Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille, with whom
he was to form the nucleus of the Impressionist
group. Monet's devotion to painting out of doors is
illustrated by the famous story concerning one of his
most ambitious early works, Women in the Garden
(Musée d'Orsay, Paris; 1866-67). The picture is
about 2.5 meters high and to enable him to paint all
of it outside he had a trench dug in the garden so
that the canvas could be raised or lowered by
pulleys to the height he required. Courbet visited
him when he was working on it and said Monet would
not paint even the leaves in the background unless
the lighting conditions were exactly right.
During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) he took
refuge in England with Pissarro: he studied the work
of Constable and Turner, painted the Thames and
London parks, and met the dealer Durand-Ruel,
who was to become one of the great champions of
the Impressionists. From 1871 to 1878 Monet lived
at Argenteuil, a village on the Seine near Paris, and
here were painted some of the most joyous and
famous works of the Impressionist movement, not
only by Monet, but by his visitors Manet, Renoir and
Sisley. In 1878 he moved to Vétheuil and in 1883 he
settled at Giverny, also on the Seine, but about 40
miles from Paris. After having experienced extreme
poverty, Monet began to prosper. By 1890 he was
successful enough to buy the house at Giverny he
had previously rented and in 1892 he married his
mistress, with whom he had begun an affair in 1876,
three years before the death of his first wife. From
1890 he concentrated on series of pictures in which
he painted the same subject at different times of the
day in different lights---Haystacks or Grainstacks
(1890-91) and Rouen Cathedral (1891-95) are the
best known. He continued to travel widely, visiting
London and Venice several times (and also Norway
as a guest of Queen Christiana), but increasingly his
attention was focused on the celebrated
water-garden he created at Giverny, which served
as the theme for the series of paintings on
Water-lilies that began in 1899 and grew to
dominate his work completely (in 1914 he had a
special studio built in the grounds of his house so he
could work on the huge canvases).
In his final years he was troubled by failing eyesight,
but he painted until the end. He was enormously
prolific and many major galleries have examples of
his work.
advocate of the Impressionist style. He is regarded
as the archetypal Impressionist in that his devotion
to the ideals of the movement was unwavering
throughout his long career, and it is fitting that one
of his pictures--Impression: Sunrise (Musée
Marmottan, Paris; 1872)--gave the group his name.
Montet's youth was spent in Le Havre, where he first
excelled as a caricaturist but was then converted to
landscape painting by his early mentor Boudin, from
whom he derived his firm predilection for painting
out of doors. In 1859 he studied in Paris at the
Atelier Suisse and formed a friendship with Pissarro.
After two years' military service in Algiers, he
returned to Le Havre and met Jongkind, to whom he
said he owed `the definitive education of my eye'. He
then, in 1862, entered the studio of Gleyre in Paris
and there met Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille, with whom
he was to form the nucleus of the Impressionist
group. Monet's devotion to painting out of doors is
illustrated by the famous story concerning one of his
most ambitious early works, Women in the Garden
(Musée d'Orsay, Paris; 1866-67). The picture is
about 2.5 meters high and to enable him to paint all
of it outside he had a trench dug in the garden so
that the canvas could be raised or lowered by
pulleys to the height he required. Courbet visited
him when he was working on it and said Monet would
not paint even the leaves in the background unless
the lighting conditions were exactly right.
During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) he took
refuge in England with Pissarro: he studied the work
of Constable and Turner, painted the Thames and
London parks, and met the dealer Durand-Ruel,
who was to become one of the great champions of
the Impressionists. From 1871 to 1878 Monet lived
at Argenteuil, a village on the Seine near Paris, and
here were painted some of the most joyous and
famous works of the Impressionist movement, not
only by Monet, but by his visitors Manet, Renoir and
Sisley. In 1878 he moved to Vétheuil and in 1883 he
settled at Giverny, also on the Seine, but about 40
miles from Paris. After having experienced extreme
poverty, Monet began to prosper. By 1890 he was
successful enough to buy the house at Giverny he
had previously rented and in 1892 he married his
mistress, with whom he had begun an affair in 1876,
three years before the death of his first wife. From
1890 he concentrated on series of pictures in which
he painted the same subject at different times of the
day in different lights---Haystacks or Grainstacks
(1890-91) and Rouen Cathedral (1891-95) are the
best known. He continued to travel widely, visiting
London and Venice several times (and also Norway
as a guest of Queen Christiana), but increasingly his
attention was focused on the celebrated
water-garden he created at Giverny, which served
as the theme for the series of paintings on
Water-lilies that began in 1899 and grew to
dominate his work completely (in 1914 he had a
special studio built in the grounds of his house so he
could work on the huge canvases).
In his final years he was troubled by failing eyesight,
but he painted until the end. He was enormously
prolific and many major galleries have examples of
his work.
Claude Monet
1840-1926
|
|
| Jardin à Sainte-Adresse, 1867, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| Woman with a Parasol, 1875, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. |
Medival Rannaissnce 13-14th century 14-15th cenury 15-16th century 16-17th century 17-18th century
18-19th century Impressionism Post Impressionism Early 20th century
18-19th century Impressionism Post Impressionism Early 20th century
