The genius was born on the 14th of November in 1840 in Paris, France.
1840 - 1926
Claude Monet was the founder of French Impressionist painting.
At the age of fifteen, Monet was known as a French cartoonist. In his school years, he liked to depict his teachers in an irreverent manner. Soon, many Parisians asked him to paint caricatures of individual people.
The term “Impressionism” is derived from the title of his painting “Impression, Sunrise”, which exhibited in 1874. He had the ambition to document the French countryside. This made the painter adopt his method of painting the same scene many times to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons.
Key ideas:
– Monet’s technique was unique. It featured expressive smears, a lack of depth and descriptive details, a manner of writing in the open air, the feeling of being present right here and right now, and the completion of pictures on the spot. All this generated amazing and charming images.
– The main subjects of his paintings were air and light, and his main principle was the quick depiction of the object in the open sky. He invented the technique of making a large series of landscapes (several dozens’ worth) with the same content that changed depending on the weather, the time of daylight and the time of a year. Monet perfectly transmitted the variability of light, the variety of atmospheric phenomena and the instantaneous changes of nature at different times.
– Monet’s favourite genre was the landscape. His technique destroyed the stereotypes of the 19th century. He created a unique world in which the momentary state of nature reigns supreme. The artist depicted special moments on his canvases.
– The artist often painted several pictures simultaneously. He illustrated the state, lighting and general view of each object in a short period. He created one painting in less than 30 minutes.
Before depicting a building, Monet studied the change in lighting and colour combinations on the facade of the building from the early morning, trying to catch their momentary stay. He changed canvases every 30 minutes, working until evening. The artist depicted his impressions of the changing colours of the cathedral. He created about 50 paintings of these architectural structures.
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1926
The genius was born on the 14th of November in 1840 in Paris, France.
Monet’s first trip to Paris and his acquaintance with Pissaro. He visited the Salon and worked at the Suisse Academy.
Monet was temporarily drafted into the army and sent to Algeria. Two years later, he entered the painting studio of Charles Gleir, where he met Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Frederick Basile, who formed the future Impressionist group.
Drew a portrait of his future wife Camille Dessier, which garnered fame for the artist. In addition, his marine arts were accepted by the Salon.
Monet went to England. Hiding from mobilization along with Pissarro, he met Durand-Ruel, the seller of paintings that made the Impressionist group famous. Then, the artist worked in Holland and became fond of Japanese engraving. “The Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers” was formed. It would go on to become the core group of Impressionists.
The artist moved to the Netherlands.
Made his famous landscape “Impression. The rising sun” («Impression, soleil levant»). Two years later, this painting was exhibited at the Boulevard des Capucines.
Monet bought a house in Giverny (Normandia), where he lived and worked to the end of his days.
The genius died on the 5th of December 1926 in Giverny, France.
friends
Camille Pissarro
Alfred Sisley
Berthe Morisot
Henri Fantin-Latour
Frederic Bazille
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Frank Weston Benson
artists
Edouard Manet
Gustave Courbet
Charles-Francois Daubigny
John Constable
J.M.W. Turner
Jean-Francois Millet
Jacob van Ruisdael
Eugene Boudin
Charles Gleyre
flow
Post-Impressionism
friends
Camille Pissarro
Berthe Morisot
Henri Fantin-Latour
artists
Albert-Charles Lebourg
Edouard Manet
Louis Anquetin
Wassily Kandinsky
Edgar Degas
Vincent van Gogh
Georges Seurat
Robert Delaunay
Childe Hassam