A Closer Look at the Life and Works of Claude Monet

Claude Monet was the primary figure of the impressionist movement. Born in Paris, France on November 14, 1840, his family moved to Le Havre when he was five years of age. Little was known of his early years, except that during his teen life, Monet developed an inclination towards drawing.

The year 1857 was a big blow for Monet’s life when his mother, Louise Monet, died when Claude was only 17 years old. It was Louise who had a better understanding of art. Claude’s father, Adolph Monet, was an owner of a big general store in Le Havre and believed in making an income through hard work, not painting. It was Claude’s aunt, Madame Lecadre, who encouraged him to pursue a career in art, study in Paris, and become a painter. She kept persuading Claude’s father that Monet has a calling in art.

Claude'’s entry to the world of world class art came when he went to Paris in 1859 and entered the Swiss Academy. There, he met some artists who would greatly influence his future career, as well as sharpen his inclination towards what would later be called impressionism. In Paris, Monet met Eugene Bodin, who was the one who encouraged him to paint outdoors and use elements in nature as central figures for his art. Monet enjoyed it very much – painting landscapes, nature’s scenery, as well as people in beautiful surroundings.

Among the other people he met in Paris were Pierre August Renoir, Frederick Bazille, Alfred Sisley, and a little older Eduard Manet, Camille Pissaro, and Edgar Degas. Having the same life interest, painting, these people all became friends and formed a group, of which Claude Monet became the leader. Monet also labeled their group as “impressionists” due to some unique elements in their artistic works as well as their distinct outlook and approach to painting (which we shall discuss later). He (Monet) got the title Impressionists from their very first art exhibition in Paris in 1874. A very keen art critic observed one of Claude Monet’s paintings entitled Impression: Sunrise, and labeled that kind of painting as impressionism. Monet’s group loved the label given to them and decided to stick with it.

It was also in Paris where Claude Monet met his first wife. Camille Doncieux was a lovable, outgoing and adorable young lady. Claude and Camille met in 1860 and later became lovers. Their first child, Jean, was born on 1867 when the couple has not yet been married. The second child came ten years later, named Michel.

During the early years of their marriage, the Monets were very poor. Claude’s paintings are not yet popular, and they are not selling very well either. Having problems with sadness and depression (popular artistic temperaments), Claude wasn’t very kind to his wife. During the time that Camille was pregnant with their first baby, Claude took off and left her all by herself with little financial support. Monet spent a whole year in his aunt’s summer house, periodically sending support to Camille and their coming child. However, he couldn’t give much because of his own poor financial state. A careful study of Claude Monet’s paintings apparently proves that he loved his first wife very much. He often portrayed her in many of his paintings and projected her as an extremely pretty and extraordinary woman.

Camille Docieux starts to become ill in 1875 and her health gradually weakened since then. Finally, after a long battle with illness, she succumbed to death on September 5, 1879. She died in her husband’s very arms. Claude Monet, greatly saddened by the tragedy, painted a haunting portrait of his wife on her deathbed, entitled "Camille sur son lit de mort."

Other portraits by Claude Monet in which he portrayed his wife were The Walkers (1875), Camille ou La Robe Verte (1866), Femmes au jardin (1866), and On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt (1868).

Now let’s talk about Monet’s artistic school of thought. The critics labeled him and his colleagues as impressionists because their works seemed to be sketches or “impressions” only, and not finished work of art. However, to the thousands of people who later followed the Impressionist philosophy of art, impressionism is simply being true to nature in specific aspects such as light and shadows in exact times of the day. For example, the photography of their time wasn’t able to catch certain aspects such as color, hue and contrast. The impressionists took advantage of these aspects by not only painting the scene, but also reflecting the aspects of color and light in specific times of the day. Claude Monet was known for returning many times to a painting scene before ever drawing a single point on his canvass.

In a sense, Impressionists are actually realists. Their rallying cry was to be true to nature. Thus, whenever Claude Monet and other Impressionists paint a portrait of water lilies, they don’t simply draw the lilies – but also every detail of the ripples in between. When they paint the sunrise, they also portray its effect on the morning leaves. What’s remarkable is that the impressionist even attempt to catch the “impression” of a fleeting ray of light and attempt to draw them on canvass with as much reality as possible.

Although the public during Claude Monet’s time was upset because they never saw his works as finished works of art but rather, only impressions, Monet’s works has proven its exquisiteness and splendor over the years. Artists and enthusiasts alike have studied the impressionist style of painting and many have agreed that Monet’s works are indeed classics worth collecting. To date, a single Monet painting could cost an estimate of 22 million dollars