Tristan Looney

Art 2, Art Appreciation

Mr. Snowden

Claude Monet
Introduction
Claude Monet was one of the great masters of Impressionism and the
founder of the Impressionism movement. He was fascinated with the play of
light and color. Monet would paint what he saw right in front of him rather
than create a detailed sketch and then paint like most artists did at the time.
He often painted the same scene over and over throughout the day, or
throughout the seasons, to catch the effects of changing light on the subject.
It was this study of light and color and his innovative approaches that made
him one of the greatest painters of all time.
Early Years
Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in Paris to Claude and Louise
Monet. At age ten, he began studying art and became well-known for his
charcoal caricatures. Monet was a friendly, outgoing young man. A few years
later, he met another artist, Eugene Boudin, who taught him oil painting and
the en plein air (outdoor) techniques which were a great influence on him.
This was a pivotal time in Monets life. He became fascinated with oil
painting and yearned to become an artist. Later on he wrote, It was as if a
veil had been removed from my eyes in a flash I could suddenly see what
painting really meant. (From France A History in Art)
In 1859, Monet moved to Paris. However, his stay was cut short when
he was drafted into the French army and sent to fight in Algiers. His wealthy
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Tristan Looney
Art 2, Art Appreciation
Mr. Snowden
father would have bailed him out if he agreed to give up painting, but Monet
refused. When he returned, he enrolled at Charles Gleyres studio in Paris,
where he met four talented young artists who would eventually join

him in becoming leaders of the Impressionism movement --- Alfred Sisley,

Jean Frdric Bazille, Edouard Manet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. They shared
a new approach to art and painting. They sought to paint impressions of
what they saw rather than an exact interpretation of the image. This was a
break from realism and current styles of painting. They used lots of color and
rapid brushstrokes and noticed the effects of light on their subject matter.
Each artist found his own style. Monets style was to use small dabs of bright
color to create an image. Up close the image looks blotchy, but from a
distance, it is seen as a whole.
In 1865, Monet met Camille Doncieux who served as his model and
eventually his future wife. In 1867, she gave birth to their first child, Jean,
and the couple married three years later in 1870. Although the family was
poor, they managed to travel around the French countryside so that Monet
could paint. During the Franco-Prussian War, the family fled to England where
Monet studied the landscape works of John Constable and Joseph Mallord
William Turner, which further inspired him. Eventually Monet returned to
France, and then to Paris, where he regrouped with his artist friends.
In April 1874, rejected by the more formal art salons, Monet and his
friends exhibited their paintings in an independent show. Monet displayed his
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Art 2, Art Appreciation
Mr. Snowden
painting, Impression, Sunrise, 1872, which ended up giving a name to the
movement. A critic called them Impressionists, which was meant to be a
put down. However, the artists latched on to the term, and from then on,
they became known as Impressionists.
Unfortunately, Monets wife Camille came down with tuberculosis in
1876. Their second son Michel was born in 1878, and Camille died about a
year and a half later at the young age of

32. Following Camilles death Monet painted some of his greatest works
including seascapes and landscapes of the French countryside. Eventually
Monet got together with Alice Hosched, and her six children, and they
formed a family.
Giverny
In May 1883, after scouting the area of Normandy, Monet rented a
house and two acres in Giverny. He liked the location because he could paint
the colorful gardens, lush landscapes, and sparkling water. It was also close
to the small town of Vernon where the children could go to school. As the
years went by, sales of his paintings increased and his fortunes grew. By
November 1890, he had enough money to buy the house and surrounding
property and to continue adding to the gardens. Monet created vast
landscaping plans and hired gardeners to carry out his designs. In 1883, he
added lily ponds which became the subjects of his best known works.

Tristan Looney
Art 2, Art Appreciation
Mr. Snowden
One of his most famous paintings, and a personal favorite of mine, is
Water Lilies and the Japanese bridge, 1897-99, Princeton University Art
Museum. In the oil painting, the Japanese bridge creates a curved horizontal
line that divides the canvas in about one third and two thirds. The willow
trees are in the top third, and the pond and white water lilies are in the
bottom two thirds. The bridge creates a strong focal point which stands out
against the floral setting. The painting appears monochromatic with green
being the dominate color. This creates the feeling of a lush environment.
Upon close inspection, one can see white, pink, and spots of dark red in the
water lilies; dots of bright yellow in the greenery; and blueish purple in the
leaves of the lilies and in the shadows on the bridge. The trees above are
reflected in the water

below. It is a beautiful painting filled with light and color that is a masterful
representation of Monets style.
The years Monet spent at his beloved home in Giverny represent twothirds of his productive life. He continued to paint water lilies, the Japanese
bridge, the gardens, and the surrounding landscape of the region. He was
becoming famous world-wide and quite wealthy. In the last ten years of his
life, he embarked on his most ambitious project, eight large-scale water lily
paintings which are now housed in the Muse de lOrangerie in Paris. Ever
the perfectionist, Monet painted and repainted the panels until a friend
finally told him to stop. The masterpieces are nearly one hundred linear feet
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Art 2, Art Appreciation
Mr. Snowden
and surround the viewer with water lilies, water, trees, and mirror-like
reflections.
Conclusion
Giverny was a source of inspiration for some of Monets most important
works of art. The main reason I chose to write about Monet is that when I was
younger, I viewed several of his works at the Palace of Fine Arts in San
Francisco. I enjoyed his vibrant use of color and the beautiful outdoor scenes
that he created. As I have learned more about Monet, I am impressed at how
he continued to innovate and try new techniques up until his death in 1926.

Sources
France A History in Art, Bradley Smith. 1984.
Gardners Art through the Ages, Sixth Edition. 1975.
Linnea in Monets Garden, Christina Bjrk and Lena Anderson. 1985.
Monets Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism, The Metropolitan Museum
of Art.
1978.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet
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