Born on November 14, 1840, Claude Monet was a famous nineteenth-century French painter, and one of the founding fathers of French impressionism. Some consider him as one of the most important painters of the Impressionist movement, and he was certainly one of the most prolific, creating more than two thousand five hundred paintings, drawings, and pastels in his lifetime. Many prominent art galleries around the world, including oil painting gallery, showcase the works of this art maverick.
Monet was the second son of his parents. Though he was born in Paris, France; his family moved to Normandy a few years later. His father was a businessman, and his mother was a singer. Monet’s father wanted him to go into the family’s grocery business, but Monet had a creative bent of mind and wanted to become an artist. When he was only 10 years old, he entered the local art school and began his studies. By the age of fifteen, he was well known in the town where he lived for drawing caricatures, or exaggerated portraits, of the people around him. His drawings were so good that people were happy to buy them, and he attracted the attention of more experienced artists, who helped him to improve. Till this date art gallery that offer oil paintings for sale also offer reproductions and fine art-prints of Monet’s artworks.
In 1857, Monet’s mother died. Shortly afterward, he left school and went to live with his aunt. In 1861, he joined the army for what was supposed to be seven years, but after two years he became sick and his aunt agreed to pay to get him out of the rest of his service on condition that he agree to go back to art school.
At art school, Monet was not happy with the traditional techniques that were being taught, and so after a very short time he left the school and began to study with other artists who were trying to create works of art in a new way. They painted outside with quick brushstrokes, more concerned with capturing the feeling of the color and the light than with accurate or realistic painting. This style of painting came to be called Impressionism. By 1865, some of Monet’s work was accepted to the Salon, an annual art show in Paris, and his work began to be appreciated, but he was still very poor.
Monet married his first wife, Camille, in 1870, and together with their young son they moved first to England, then the Netherlands, but by late 1871, they returned to France. In 1878, Camille gave birth to their second son, but she was very sick and died the next year. Monet had a very difficult time following his wife’s death, but within a few years, his career began to take off as his art dealer had more and more success selling his paintings.
In 1883, Monet settled in a house in Giverny, France, with Alice Hoschede, who cared for his children as well as her own six children. By 1890, Monet was doing well enough to buy the house and the land around it, and to build a greenhouse, a studio, and a garden full of water lilies. In 1892, following the death of her husband, Monet married Alice and spent his remaining years painting in the gardens of Giverny. He often painted the same thing many times in an attempt to capture them in different seasons, light, or colors. He continued painting up until his death on December 5, 1926, at the age of 86.
Today Monet is remembered for the changes he helped create in the world of art. By moving away from realism, or realistic painting, he prepared the way for more modern styles of art. Various art galleries that put oil paintings for sale also offer fine art-prints of Monet’s paintings for sale. His paintings hang in various art galleries and museums around the world and his beautiful gardens are open for visitors who want to come and see the place that the renowned artist created so many of his paintings.
