"It is beautiful here, my friend; every day I discover even more beautiful things. It is intoxicating me, and I want to paint it all - my head is bursting…It seems to me as if I can see nature and I can catch it all…it is by observation and reflection that I discover how. That is what we are working on, continuously." - Claude Monet
Born on November 14, 1840, in Paris, France, Claude Monet spent his early years caught between two conflicting career paths. His father, a successful grocer, wanted his son to work in the family business. But, from a young age, Claude showed little interest in that work, preferring to immerse himself in the world of art. He fell in love with drawing, caricatures in particular, even as he felt the tug of his father's expectations. In contrast, his mother, who came from an artistic background, quietly nurtured her son's creative interests, encouraging his passion for drawing.
With his mother’s support, Claude began finding success,
"At fifteen I was known all over Le Havre as a caricaturist. My reputation was so well established that from all sides people came to me and pestered me for caricatures. I had so many requests, and the pocket money my mother could spare me was so meager, that I was led to take a bold step, one which needless to say shocked my parents: I started selling my portraits. Sizing up my customer, I charged ten or twenty francs a caricature, and it worked like a charm. Within a month my clientele had doubled.”
But then, Claude's artistic drive found a new direction when he met landscape painter Eugène Boudin, who introduced him to the practice of painting outdoors. Changed now and soon committed to become a painter, Claude moved to Paris, where he began studying art and surrounding himself with like-minded artists. The group rejected some of the strict rules of painting in favor of a style that leaned towards spontaneity and a deep connection to modern life and nature. They sought to capture light, movement, and color in ways the old artists had not.
But success did not come quickly. Claude faced years of financial hardship, often living in poverty. Yet, he remained dedicated to his craft, determined to continue painting despite the challenges.
In the 1870s, Monet’s work finally began to gain recognition, though not without controversy. In 1874, his painting "Impression Sunrise" was exhibited. The painting, done in a modern style with loose brushwork and emphasis on atmosphere over detail, symbolized a new approach, favoring emotion and perception over realism. It gave rise to a new genre — Impressionism.
Initially, Impressionism faced harsh criticism. Critics, accustomed to polished, detailed works of art, found its loose brushstrokes and lack of precise detail sloppy and unfinished. The bold use of color and the emphasis on light over form were considered unrefined, and the subject matter of everyday life, rather than grand historical or mythological scenes, was deemed trivial by the art establishment. And Impressionism's departure from realism was seen as radical, leading to its initial rejection by many in the art world.
Despite the initial ridicule, Claude remained steadfast in his vision. He was also obsessive, consumed by his work. So much so that he once described how, while at the deathbed of his first wife, he found himself analyzing the colors in her face, writing, "Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment. To such an extent indeed that one day, finding myself at the deathbed of a woman who had been and still was very dear to me, I caught myself in the act of focusing on her temples and automatically analyzing the succession of appropriately graded colors which death was imposing on her motionless face."
As Claude aged and his eyesight deteriorated due to cataracts, he stayed determined to paint, though his work became more abstract. Reflecting on this period, he said, "I see less and less.. .I need to avoid lateral light, which darkens my colors. Nevertheless, I always paint at the times of day most propitious for me, as long as my paint tubes and brushes are not mixed up.. ..I will paint almost blind, as Beethoven composed completely deaf."
On December 5, 1926, Claude passed away, leaving behind a legacy of beloved artwork and a new artistic genre.
Sources:
Rouart, Denis, and Degand, Léon. Claude Monet: Historical and Critical Study, by Denis Rouart. Israel, Skira, 1958.
Stamberg, Susan. “Eugene Boudin: The Man Who Inspired Monet.” July 1, 2010. https://www.npr.org/2010/07/01/128174560/eugene-boudin-the-man-who-inspired-monet
Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet_1899_Nadar_crop.jpg
Wikiquote, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Claude_Monet
As quoted in Claude Monet: Les Nymphéas (1926) by Georges Clemenceau, Ch. 2.
Quote of Monet, 1864 in a letter to his friend Frédéric Bazille; as cited in Monet's landschappen Vivian Rusell; Icob, Alphen aan de Rijn, The Netherlands 2010, p. 12
Quote, Jan. 1921, to journalist Marcel Pays. Monet in the 20th Century, by Paul Hayes Tucker.
He's one of my favorite painters. Thank you for this snapshot!