Claude Monet
(1840 - 1926)
biography
Claude Monet was a French Impressionist painter whose work transformed the course of modern art. Born in Paris and raised in Le Havre, Monet showed early talent for drawing and was encouraged by the artist Eugène Boudin, who introduced him to painting outdoors, or plein air. This experience shaped Monet’s approach for the rest of his life, as he sought to capture natural light, atmosphere and fleeting visual effects directly from the landscape.
After moving to Paris in the 1860s, Monet became close to Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and other artists who would later form the Impressionist movement. Their loose brushwork, everyday subjects and interest in changing light challenged the academic conventions of the time. The public debut of this new style came in 1874 at the first Impressionist exhibition, where Monet’s work became central to the group’s identity. Critics initially dismissed the paintings, but Impressionism soon reshaped how modern art was understood.
Throughout his career Monet returned repeatedly to the same subjects, painting them under different light, weather and seasonal conditions. His gardens at Giverny became the most famous setting for this lifelong study of visual change. Water lilies, Japanese bridges, poplar trees, haystacks and the facade of Rouen Cathedral formed some of the most recognisable images in Western painting. These series reflect Monet’s belief that colour and perception are never fixed, and that momentary sensation could be captured with loose brushwork and layered tonal shifts.
Monet continued working into his eighties, even as cataracts affected his vision. His late water lily paintings, expansive and immersive, are often seen as precursors to abstract art. Today, Monet remains one of the most collected and widely exhibited artists in the world. His paintings are held in major museums including the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the National Gallery in London and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Claude Monet’s influence endures through the continuing popularity of Impressionism, the global demand for his paintings, and ongoing public fascination with the gardens and water lily ponds that defined his legacy.
After moving to Paris in the 1860s, Monet became close to Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and other artists who would later form the Impressionist movement. Their loose brushwork, everyday subjects and interest in changing light challenged the academic conventions of the time. The public debut of this new style came in 1874 at the first Impressionist exhibition, where Monet’s work became central to the group’s identity. Critics initially dismissed the paintings, but Impressionism soon reshaped how modern art was understood.
Throughout his career Monet returned repeatedly to the same subjects, painting them under different light, weather and seasonal conditions. His gardens at Giverny became the most famous setting for this lifelong study of visual change. Water lilies, Japanese bridges, poplar trees, haystacks and the facade of Rouen Cathedral formed some of the most recognisable images in Western painting. These series reflect Monet’s belief that colour and perception are never fixed, and that momentary sensation could be captured with loose brushwork and layered tonal shifts.
Monet continued working into his eighties, even as cataracts affected his vision. His late water lily paintings, expansive and immersive, are often seen as precursors to abstract art. Today, Monet remains one of the most collected and widely exhibited artists in the world. His paintings are held in major museums including the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the National Gallery in London and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Claude Monet’s influence endures through the continuing popularity of Impressionism, the global demand for his paintings, and ongoing public fascination with the gardens and water lily ponds that defined his legacy.
biography
