Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Monet and
Impressionism
Top 10 Events in
Monet's Life
1 1840: born on 14
November in Paris
2 1858: introduced to
painting outside by
Eugène Boudin
3 1866: enjoys first
success at the Salon
4 1870: introduced to art
dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel
5 1871: starts collecting
Japanese prints
6 1874: holds
“Impressionist”
exhibition with Renoir,
Sisley and other artists
7 1883: discovers Giverny
and moves into the Pink
House
8 1892: starts work on
the garden and Rouen
Cathedral series;
marries Alice Hoschedé
9 1916: starts
Water Lily
series
0 1926: dies on 6
December at Giverny
As a child, Monet was encouraged to paint
en plein
air
(outdoors). He found the established techniques
of studio-painting inadequate to his purposes.
Fascinated by the illusory effects of sunlight and the
weather on his subject, he strived to “capture the
moment” with quick, bold brushstrokes, concerned
more with effect than with sharp naturalistic detail
- a technique that, despite his early success, did not
endear him to the Salon. His painting,
Impression,
Sunrise
, exhibited in a show with other sympathetic
artists, led a critic to coin the term “Impressionism”,
and he was heralded as the father of the style. His
discovery of Giverny coincided with a new energy and
confidence in his painting. The colours in his carefully
planned gardens
provided him with an
ever-changing palette,
and in the years he
spent there, he painted
his best-known works.
His life had been
dogged by financial
hardship and tragedy;
at Giverny, he was
solvent and successful
for the first time.
Claude Monet in his studio
at Giverny
Sunrise, Le Havre, 1872
Following pages
Manoir du Courboyer, Nocé
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