CLAUDE MONET (French Impressionist Painter)
Claude Monet was born in Le Havre, France, where he began his work as a caricature artist, but changed to landscape painting under the influence of his teacher Eugene Boudin. Landscape painting brought him outside the studio to work, and his work with shadow and light came directly from his observations of natural, outdoor light. Although not the creator of impressionism, the art form was named after Monet's painting "Impression: Sunrise" (1872; Musee Marmottan, Paris).
In 1859, Monet moved to Paris where he studied at the Atelier Suisse. He met Camille Pissarro there, and began the first of many lifelong friendships with other contemporary painters. He joined the military and served in Algiers, but spent the Franco-Prussian was in England, where he returned to his work as a painter. Monet was exacting about his work and was known to wait for the light to change to his requirements before even so much as painting in a background. He was immensely practical in his pursuit of the correct light, which led him to devise extraordinary methods of getting what he wanted within the limits set by nature, man and paint. When he painted "Women in the Garden" (1866-67; Musee d'Orsay, Paris), the height of his canvas (over ten feet) required the digging of a trench so the painting could be raised or lowered on pulleys, allowing Monet to reach it.
Monet traveled widely, painting in France, England and other countries. His works painted in London parks and in the Thames region are well-known. His early years were impoverished, and a degree of acclaim later in his life freed him to pursue subjects that most interested him. His fascination with light continued throughout his life, resulting in series of paintings done of the same subject but at different times of the day. "Haystacks or Grainstacks" (1890-91) and "Rouen Cathedral" (1891-95) are examples of his later work.
Monet painted until the end of life although he struggled with poor eyesight. He was a prolific painter: his paintings hang in the finest museums and galleries in the world.
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