The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) by Claude Monet
About the Artist: Claude Monet
Claude Monet, or in full Oscar-Claude Monet (born November 14, 1840, Paris, France), was a French painter who led and initiated the impressionist painting style. Through a lifelong study of his craft, Monet developed his method of repeated studies of the same motif in series. Focusing on light and the continuous shift of his interest, he captured how he saw nature. His constant scrutiny of how his subjects altered in weather and light encapsulated varying moods and emotions.
The natural landscape inspired Monet, who crafted his garden to be his source of study. Monet would make detailed images on varying scales with countless water lilies and scenes at his disposal. His imagination and concern for light challenged the reigning academic styles of painting at the time. One of his works, Impression, soleil levant, would coin the name of his distinct artistic expression.
Considered radicals, the impressionist painter used free brush strokes to construct their work and often painted outside. They were dedicated to representing the world around them rather than romanticized, historized depictions favored at the time. This style would be associated with immediacy and movement. Monet’s paintings would become a precursor for art movements like Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. In Monet’s lifetime, critical acclaim only came later. The works displayed and appreciated, primarily by American collectors of his time, were destined to create ripples in the art world. Monet’s influence has lived on for future generations to appreciate his work, from abstract artists to modernists.
Monet only began to fragment his brushstrokes later in life. His different scales of pieces largened as his eyesight faded. This change has left the rest of us with a body of work that displays his evolution. Monet was interested in the natural world and drawing from a young age. He studied at the Académie Suisse, where he was a classmate of Auguste Renoir.
His early works include landscapes, seascapes, and portraits but attracted little attention. As he developed his style and school of thought, his paintings grew popular, his method solidified, and his final thematic works would become treasured forever.
Monet suffered from cataracts and underwent surgery to try and correct them. Ironically, his struggle with his loss of sight would bring about his era of creating the most visual works that he is so famed for by the art community. Found in the Musée de l’Orangerie, where giant water lily canvases clad the oval-shaped walls, is the magnum opus of Claude Monet’s Work. It is an immersive display and a testament to Monet’s ability to collaborate and create everlasting effects.
Monet married twice and had a life filled with friendships, debt, and ultimately creation. He would eventually succumb to lung cancer and died on December 5, 1926, at the age of 86, and is buried in the Giverny church cemetery. His home has become a museum and attracts many tourists every year. Monet’s influence lives on today, and he will always be known as one of humanity’s greatest painters.
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Originally published at https://www.artlegends.org on June 5, 2022.
