Claude Monet Biography • Father of the Impressionist style of painting

Claude Monet was a great French artist of the 19th century. He is the founding father of the Impressionist style of painting. As a matter of fact, he is one of the greatest art creators of the modern era. From his artwork ‘Impression: Sunrise’ the term ‘Impressionism’ derived in the world of art.

Claude Monet was born on 14 November in 1840 in Paris, France. His father Adolphe was a shipping businessman and mother Louise was a housewife. His mother was a well-known singer and admirer of art and poetry. So Monet got his first attraction towards art from his mother.

Monet’s family moved to Le Havre in 1845. There he started to go to school. In spite of being a good student, he didn’t like the school very much. He loved to spend his time to enjoy the natural scenes. Monet liked drawing from an early age. He often used to draw in his schoolbooks. Though his father didn’t like his passion for art very much, Monet’s mother supported him. He became very famous in his community for his drawing. He started to adapting nature landscape under the influence of Eugene Boudin. This influence provoked him much in his later part of life.

Monet went to Paris in 1859 to study art. There he admitted into Academie Suisse and met Camille Pissarro. He went to Algeria to serve the military in 1861 and returned from there for health reason in 1862. This time Monet met many artists like Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille, who became famous impressionists later. He used to work outside along with Renoir and Bazille. The juries of annual art show accepted two of his works to show in Paris. In spite of achieving praise, Monet was still insolvent financially. In 1861 another two of his paintings saw the light of the annual art show, but his financial state didn’t change that much. Even once he tried to commit suicide in 1868.

Monet’s condition became better when Louis Joachim Guadibert became his patron. In 1870 he went to England and Paul Durand-Ruel became his first art dealer. He returned to France in 1872 and settled in Paris. There he finally developed his own style of painting. ‘Impression Sunrise’, ‘Poppies’, ‘The Water Lily Pond’, ‘Beach in Pourville’, ‘Springtime’, ‘Snow at Argenteuil’ etc. are some of his ageless works.

Claude Monet died on 5 December in 1926. Critics still recognize him as the founding father of Impressionism and one of the greatest artists of the world.