Claude Monet - French Impressionist:

The Quintessential Impressionist

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

If the definition of an Impressionist painter is the attempt to encapsulate and reconstitute a certain visual awareness and if the actual subject matter is therefore the how as well as the what of perception, then it can be effectually argued that Claude Monet was the purest of the Impressionist artists.

Claude Monet was born Oscar Claude Monet on November 14, 1840. The term Impressionism is derived from the title of his painting Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant).

He alone possessed the determined drive to examine the inflexible limitations of painting and ultimately redefined its concept.

Claude was the second son of Claude A. Monet and Louise J. Aubree Monet, both Parisians. His family referred to him as "Oscar". In 1845 he and his family moved from Paris to Le Havre in Normandy where his mother was a songstress and his father was grocer. Claude Sr. wanted "Oscar" to join him in the grocery business, but Monet had other ideas and painting was his passion. In 1851 Monet enrolled at Le Havre secondary school of the arts. His charcoal caricatures were very popular with the local population which he'd sell to them for a few francs. Monet was initially introduced to plein-air painting by a fellow artist and neighbor, Eugene Boudin, whom he met on the Normandy beaches. Boudin became his tutor and also introduced him to the use of oil paints.

In 1865 he met the future Impressionist painters; Renoir, Bazille and Sisley in Paris and together they painted outdoors in the forest of Fontainebleau. Edourd Manet's composition, entitled Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, had been the conversation piece of the Salon in Paris, making him the most controversial artist in France. Claude was inspired by the older painters' example and decided to compete with him by painting the same theme only in a completely naturalistic setting. The massive size of his anticipated canvas (15ft x 20ft) made it virtually impossible for him to paint out of doors. In the end he had to be content to make oil sketches of his mistress, soon to become his wife, Bazille and other painter friends, which eventually would be integrated into the large composition.

In 1866 Monet painted The Woman in the Green Dress featuring Camille Doncieux as his model. This painting brought him recognition and was one of his countless works featuring his wife to be. In 1868 Camille became pregnant and gave birth to their first child.

Monet and Camille married in June of 1870 just before the Franco Prussian war and after their trip to London. They moved to Agenteuil in December of 1871 and during this time Monet painted a number of works depicting modern life. His wife became ill in 1876 but in spite of this she bore another son in March of 1878. Already very frail this second child served to weaken her even further and in September of 1879 Camille Monet passed away at the tender age of thirty-two from tuberculosis. Claude Monet painted her on her death bed.

The months after Camille's death were extremely difficult for Monet. It took some time but he was resolved to begin painting again in earnest. Indeed, some of his very best paintings were composed in the 19th Century. He painted groups of landscapes and seascapes that he developed into a campaign to document the French countryside.

During Camille's illness, the Monet family moved in temporarily at the home of Ernest Hoschede (1837-1891). He was a wealthy department store owner and patron of the arts. Both families spent summers together in Vetheuil. After the death of Camille, Alice Hoschede helped to raise Monet's two sons along with her six children. After the death of her husband, Claude Monet and Alice Hoschede married in 1892 and moved to Upper Normandy where he planted a large garden and where he painted for much of the rest of his life.

Lung cancer took the life of Claude Monet at the age of 86 and at his insistence that it be a simple gathering, his ceremony was very small with only about 50 people in attendance.

His famous garden, home and water lily pond were bequeathed by his only heir Michel to the French Academy of Fine Arts. Through the Claude Monet Foundation, the house and gardens were opened in 1980 for visits from people worldwide. Truly, Claude Monet was the quintessential French Impressionist Painter.

— by Gwen Howlett  |  July 1, 2010

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