Claude Monet was one of the foremost French painters belonging
to the 19th century movement known as Impressionism. Born
in Paris in 1840, the son of a grocer, he was brought up in
Normandy. In his teen years he became very adept at doing
caricatures and later on he started painting realistic landscapes,
encouraged by landscape painter Eugène Boudin. This
mentor also urged him to paint outdoors, known as “plein-air”
painting. This technique later became one of the central pillars
of the Impressionists in their work.
After his military service in 1861-1862 (he only spent two
years of the seven he was conscripted to serve, however, his
father was able to buy him out of it), Monet went to Paris
to study under painter Charles Gleyre, along with fellow students
Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric
Bazille. During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871, Monet
left Paris for England, where he continued mingling with other
prominent Impressionist artists.
After the war he returned to France, settling in Giverny.
After the 1870’s Monet began focusing a lot on light
and atmosphere in his paintings. He tended to make multiple
studies of one particular subject, ending up with series of
paintings on train stations, haystacks, the London skyline
and his most famous water lilies.
Monet died in 1926. His house and garden at
Giverny, which was where he drew his inspiration for his most
famous series The Water Lilies, were opened to the
public in 1981.
