Key facts
Claude Monet, born in Paris on 14 November 1840 and died at Giverny on 5 December 1926, was the most constant among the founders of Impressionism. Trained at Le Havre under Eugène Boudin, he gave the movement its name, unintentionally, with Impression, Sunrise, shown at the group’s first exhibition in 1874. From Giverny, where he settled in 1883, he turned serial painting into a method: the Wheatstacks, the Poplars, some thirty Rouen Cathedrals, the Thames views, and finally the Water Lilies. He married Camille Doncieux in 1870 and Alice Hoschedé in 1892. On 12 April 1922 he gave nineteen Water Lilies panels to the French State; they were installed in the two oval rooms of the Musée de l’Orangerie, opened to the public on 17 May 1927.
Claude Monet: a biography
Monet did not paint things. He painted states: an hour, a mist, a reflection. His career rests upon a single sustained ambition, to make visible that which changes.
A Norman apprenticeship (1840-1865)
Born in Paris on 14 November 1840, Monet grew up in Le Havre. His caricature portraits drew the attention of Eugène Boudin around 1856, who took him out to work from the motif. Paris followed in 1859: the Académie Suisse, then in 1862 the private studio of Charles Gleyre, where he became close to Renoir, Sisley and Bazille.
From Argenteuil to the serial principle (1866-1899)
The Salon of 1866 accepted La Femme à la robe verte; ten years of rejections and debt followed. Argenteuil, from December 1871 to January 1878, settled the manner (The Bridge at Argenteuil, Woman with a Parasol).
The Gare Saint-Lazare set out in 1877 the principle that would govern all that followed: one motif, several states. Giverny, rented in 1883 and purchased in 1890, became the laboratory of the Wheatstacks and of the thirty Rouen Cathedrals.
Giverny and the Grandes Décorations (1900-1926)
The Houses of Parliament, then a single Venetian stay in 1908, preceded the culminating work. On 12 April 1922 Monet gave nineteen Water Lilies panels to the State. Operated on for cataract in 1923, he continued to work on them until his death on 5 December 1926. The two oval rooms of the Orangerie opened on 17 May 1927.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Claude Monet regarded as the father of Impressionism?
Because his painting Impression, Sunrise, shown at the group’s first exhibition in 1874, prompted the critic Louis Leroy to coin the word “Impressionist”, first in mockery and soon adopted by the painters themselves. Monet was also the only member of the group to remain faithful to that programme for sixty years.
Why did Monet paint the same motif repeatedly?
Because his subject was not the motif but the light passing across it. By painting a wheatstack or a façade at different hours and in different seasons, he demonstrated that a landscape has no stable appearance. See Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning.
How many canvases are there in the Rouen Cathedral series?
About thirty, painted during two campaigns in February to April 1892 and 1893, completed in the studio and dated 1894. Twenty of them were exhibited in May 1895 at the gallery of the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.
When did Monet settle at Giverny?
In April 1883, initially as a tenant. He purchased the property in 1890 and had the water lily pond laid out from 1893. He lived there until his death. See Water Lily Pond and The Japanese Footbridge.
Where can Monet’s Water Lilies be seen?
The Grandes Décorations have been displayed in the two oval rooms of the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris since 17 May 1927. Further Water Lilies are held by the Musée Marmottan Monet, the Musée d’Orsay and major international collections.
Did Monet go blind?
No. A double cataract was diagnosed in 1912, after difficulties first appeared in 1908. It severely affected his perception of colour. Following surgery in 1923 he recovered sufficient vision to continue, though he judged several recent canvases too red and destroyed a number of panels.
Who were Claude Monet’s wives?
Camille Doncieux, whom he married on 28 June 1870, mother of Jean and Michel, died on 5 September 1879. Alice Hoschedé, with whom he had lived since 1878, became his wife on 16 July 1892, after the death of Ernest Hoschedé in March 1891. Alice died in 1911. See The Red Kerchief.
Explore further on VMuseum
- Impressionism: the movement and its milestones
- All works by Claude Monet
- Claude Monet: Sunrise (Marine)
- Claude Monet: The Cliffs at Étretat
- Claude Monet: Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt, Winter Effect
- Claude Monet: Houses by the Bank of the River Zaan
- Claude Monet: Tulip Fields at Sassenheim
- Claude Monet: Rounded Flower Bed
- Claude Monet: Still Life with Flowers and Fruit
- Édouard Manet on VMuseum
- All artist biographies
Bibliography
- WILDENSTEIN, Daniel, Claude Monet: catalogue raisonné, 5 vols, Bibliothèque des arts, Paris, 1974-1991
- GEFFROY, Gustave, Claude Monet, sa vie, son temps, son œuvre, Paris, 1922, repr. Macula, 1980
- TUCKER, Paul Hayes, Monet in the 90s: The Series Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1989
- HOOG, Michel, Musée de l’Orangerie: The Water Lilies of Claude Monet, RMN, Paris, 3rd ed. 2006
- PATIN, Sylvie, Claude Monet at the Musée d’Orsay, RMN, Paris, 2004
- PIGUET, Philippe, Monet et Venise, Herscher, Paris, 1986
- REWALD, John, The History of Impressionism, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946
- CLEMENCEAU, Georges, Claude Monet: les Nymphéas, Paris, 1928
- Fondation Claude Monet, reference chronology, Giverny
- Musée de l’Orangerie, documentary files on the Water Lilies cycle
