Claude Monet's Biography
Claude Monet's Biography
Claude Monet was born in Paris on the 14th November, 1840. When he was five years old, he moved to the port town of Le Havre. For much of his childhood, Monet was considered by both his teachers and his parents to be undisciplined and, therefore, unlikely to make a success of his life. Enforcing this impression, Monet showed no interest in inheriting his father's wholesale grocery.
The only subject that seemed to spark any interest in the child was painting. He developed a decent reputation in school l for the caricatures he was fond of creating. By the age of fifteen, he was receiving commission for his work, and was finally to become known as the "Father of Impressionism".
Monet studied under the painter Boudin, who was obsessed with the idea of painting outdoors. Later Monet left Le Harve to travel Europe, but was recorded as frequently returning to visit his friend of many years. Monet once said about Boudin, "My eyes were finally opened and I understood nature; I learned at the same time to love it.”
Monet served for the National Service in the spring of 1862, and lived in Algeria. During this time the landscape and environment was said to have made a profound impact on his work. Boudin had opened his eyes as a painter, he may have even convinced the young painter to break with tradition and finish his paintings outdoors, but he was still too young to truly experience the country's capital. Algeria was just the place and time that he needed.
Titled now as the "Father of Impressionism", Monet was always absorbed by the fleeting quality of sunlight. Still, he went far beyond a preoccupation with luminosity and reflections in his works. The art of Monet, gives the appearance of improvisation and spontaneity. His paintings often took a very long time to finish, as he would only paint when the light was falling correctly on every aspect of the painting's subject matter.
Monet moved to London in the early 1870's to avoid involvement in the Franco-Prussian War. There he was exposed to the English masters, Constable and Turner. Later, Monet returned again to Le Harvre where he painted the cited painting largely credited with the naming of the entire movement. Never fully content, Monet went to Dieppe, Pourville and Varengeville-sur-Mer. His first wife...