Biography

  Oscar Claude Monet was born in Paris, France on the 14th of November 1840. Born to Adolphe, who worked in the family’s shipping company and Louise, who was a housewife and nurtured Claude’s love for drawing.

Before moving to Paris to study at Academie Suisse, Monet already had a great interest in the natural world in his paintings and was introduced to painting outdoors by a local landscape artist in Le Havre, Eugene Boudin.

In Paris, Monet gained recognition and critical praise for numerous paintings but he still struggled financially. After the birth of his first son, Jean, in 1867 with Camille Doncieux, he was in such great financial crisis that according to some reports he tried to commit suicide by trying to drown himself in the River Seine. Fortunately he did not succeed.

While getting together with several other artists, Monet co-founded the Societe Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs (the Society of Anonymous Painters, Sculptors, and Printers).

The April 1874 exhibition proved to be radical. One of Monet’s most famous works in the exhibition, Impression, Sunrise (1873), featured Le Havre’s harbor in the dawn mist. Critics entitled the society of artists the Impressionists, stating that their artwork seemed more like sketches than finished paintings.

Monet usually got frustrated with his artwork and according to some reports he destroyed numerous paintings. An estimated 500 works have been destroyed. With these outbursts, he also suffered from bouts of self-doubt and depression.

While Monet resided in Giverny, he found great pleasure in painting the water lilies he found in a nearby pond and he created many different paintings consisting of these particular lilies. He also painted a few paintings with a Japanese-style bridge as the subject surrounded by the water lilies.

Claude Monet is considered one of the most famous artists in art history and is one of the most prominent figures in the impressionist era.

For a more in-depth biography on Claude Monet go to; http://www.biography.com/people/claude-monet-9411771?page=1