Claude Monet

Claude Monet gave Impressionism its name – and pursued the same goal all his life: light in a single moment.

Life

Born in Paris in 1840, he grew up in Le Havre, where Eugène Boudin encouraged him to paint outdoors. In Paris he met Renoir, Sisley and Bazille. His painting “Impression, Sunrise” at the 1874 exhibition gave the movement its name. For years he struggled for money; from 1883 he lived in Giverny, where he laid out a garden with a water-lily pond and a Japanese bridge. He painted series of haystacks, Rouen Cathedral and the Thames. He died in Giverny in 1926.

Style & technique

Monet painted quickly and outdoors, with short strokes of pure colour set side by side. His shadows are blue or violet, not black. In series he captured the same motif at different times of day and year. In his late work the water-lily paintings dissolve almost entirely into colour.

Look closely

  • The shadows: what colour are they really?
  • The strokes: up close, dabs; from afar, water, foliage and mist.
  • The series: compare two pictures of the same motif – what has changed?

Timeline

  • 1840: Born in Paris.
  • 1874: “Impression, Sunrise” at the first Impressionist exhibition.
  • 1883: Moves to Giverny.
  • 1890–1891: Haystacks series.
  • 1926: Dies in Giverny.

Works in the museum