Claude Monet
Template:Short description Template:Hatnote group Template:Use dmy datesTemplate:Use British English Template:Infobox artistOscar-Claude Monet (Template:IPAc-en, Template:IPAc-en; {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it.Template:Sfn During his long career, he was the most consistent and prolific practitioner of Impressionism's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions of nature, especially as applied to plein air (outdoor) landscape painting.<ref>House, John, et al.: Monet in the 20th century, page 2, Yale University Press, 1998.</ref> The term "Impressionism" is derived from the title of his painting Impression, soleil levant, which was first exhibited in the so-called "exhibition of rejects" of 1874–an exhibition initiated by Monet and like-minded artists as an alternative to the Salon.
Monet was raised in Le Havre, Normandy, and became interested in the outdoors and drawing from an early age. Although his mother, Louise-Justine Aubrée Monet, supported his ambitions to be a painter, his father, Claude-Adolphe, disapproved and wanted him to pursue a career in business. He was very close to his mother, but she died in January 1857 when he was sixteen years old, and he was sent to live with his childless, widowed but wealthy aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre. He went on to study at the Académie Suisse, and under the academic history painter Charles Gleyre, where he was a classmate of Auguste Renoir. His early works include landscapes, seascapes, and portraits, but attracted little attention. A key early influence was Eugène Boudin, who introduced him to the concept of plein air painting. From 1883, Monet lived in Giverny, also in northern France, where he purchased a house and property and began a vast landscaping project, including a water-lily pond.
Monet's ambition to document the French countryside led to a method of painting the same scene many times so as to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons. Among the best-known examples are his series of haystacks (1890–1891), paintings of Rouen Cathedral (1892–1894), and the paintings of water lilies in his garden in Giverny, which occupied him for the last 20 years of his life. Frequently exhibited and successful during his lifetime, Monet's fame and popularity soared in the second half of the 20th century when he became one of the world's most famous painters and a source of inspiration for a burgeoning group of artists.
BiographyEdit
Birth and childhoodEdit
Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840 on the fifth floor of 45 rue Laffitte, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.<ref name="Tucker5">P. Tucker Claude Monet: Life and Art, p. 5</ref> He was the second son of Claude Adolphe Monet (1800–1871) and Louise Justine Aubrée Monet (1805–1857), both of them second-generation Parisians. On 20 May 1841, he was baptised in the local Paris church, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, as Oscar-Claude, but his parents called him simply Oscar.<ref name="Tucker5" /><ref>Patin, Sylvie. "Monet: un œil... mais, bon Dieu, quel œil!" Découvertes Gallimard, Number 131, série Arts. p. 14</ref> Although baptised Catholic, Monet later became an atheist.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1845, his family moved to Le Havre in Normandy. His father, a wholesale merchant, wanted him to go into the family's ship-chandling and grocery business,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn but Monet wanted to become an artist. His mother was a singer, and supported Monet's desire for a career in art.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 1 April 1851, he entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts.<ref>Arnold, Matthias (2005). Claude Monet. London: H Books. p. 3. Template:ISBN.</ref> He was an apathetic student who, after showing skill in art from a young age, began drawing caricatures and portraits of acquaintances at age 15 for money.<ref name="Fourny-Dargère_30" /> He began his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard, a former student of Jacques-Louis David.<ref name="Fourny-Dargère_30">Fourny-Dargère, Sophie, and Claude Monet (1992). Monet. New York: Konecky and Konecky. p. 30. Template:ISBN.</ref> In around 1858, he met fellow artist Eugène Boudin, who would encourage Monet to develop his techniques, teach him the "en plein air" (outdoor) techniques for painting and take Monet on painting excursions.<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":8">Template:Cite journal</ref> Monet thought of Boudin as his master, whom "he owed everything to" for his later success.Template:Sfn In 1857, his mother died.<ref name=":11">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
}}</ref> He lived with his father and aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre; Lecadre would be a source of support for Monet in his early art career.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":11" />
Paris and AlgeriaEdit
From 1858 to 1860, Monet continued his studies in Paris, where he enrolled in Académie Suisse and met Camille Pissarro in 1859.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was called for military service and served under the Chasseurs d'Afrique (African Hunters), in Algeria, from 1861 to 1862.<ref>House, John (1986). Monet: Nature Into Art Template:Webarchive. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. p. 5. Template:ISBN.</ref> His time in Algeria had a powerful effect on Monet, who later said that the light and vivid colours of North Africa "contained the gem of my future researches".<ref>Jeffrey Meyers, "Monet in Algeria", pp 19–24 "History Today" April 2015</ref> Illness forced his return to Le Havre, where he bought out his remaining service and met Johan Barthold Jongkind, who together with Boudin was an important mentor to Monet.<ref name=":4" />
Upon his return to Paris, with the permission of his father, he divided his time between his childhood home and the countryside and enrolled in Charles Gleyre's studio, where he met Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Frédéric Bazille.<ref name=":11" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Bazille eventually became his closest friend.Template:Sfn In search of motifs, they traveled to Honfleur where Monet painted several "studies" of the harbor and the mouth of the Seine.Template:Sfn Monet often painted alongside Renoir and Alfred Sisley,<ref name=":63"/> both of whom shared his desire to articulate new standards of beauty in conventional subjects.Template:Sfn
During this time he painted Women in Garden, his first successful large-scale painting, and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the "most important painting of Monet's early period".<ref name=":63">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Having debuted at the Salon in 1865 with La Pointe de la Hève at Low Tide and Mouth of the Seine at Honfleur to large praise, he hoped {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} would help him break through into the Salon of 1866. He could not finish it in a timely manner and instead submitted The Woman in the Green Dress and Pavé de Chailly to acceptance.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":10" /> Thereafter, he submitted works to the Salon annually until 1870, but they were accepted by the juries only twice, in 1866 and 1868.<ref name=":4" /> He sent no more works to the Salon until his single, final attempt in 1880.<ref name=":4" /> His work was considered radical, "discouraged at all official levels".Template:Sfn
In 1867 his then-mistress, Camille Doncieux—whom he had met two years earlier as a model for his paintings—gave birth to their first child, Jean.<ref name=":8" /> Monet had a strong relationship with Jean, claiming that Camille was his lawful wife so Jean would be considered legitimate.<ref name=":2" /> Monet's father stopped financially supporting him as a result of the relationship. Earlier in the year Monet had been forced to move to his aunt's house in Sainte-Adresse.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":10">Template:Citation</ref> There he immersed himself in his work, although a temporary problem with his eyesight, probably related to stress, prevented him from working in sunlight.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":4" /> Monet loved his family dearly, painting many portraits of them such as Child With a Cup, a Portrait of Jean Monet. This painting in particular shows the first signs of Monets' later famous impressionistic work.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
With help from the art collector Louis-Joachim Gaudibert, he reunited with Camille and moved to Étretat the following year.Template:Sfn<ref name=":11" /> Around this time, he was trying to establish himself as a figure painter who depicted the "explicitly contemporary, bourgeois", an intention that continued into the 1870s.<ref name=":11" /><ref name="House">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He did evolve his painting technique and integrate stylistic experimentation in his plein-air style—as evidenced by The Beach at Sainte-Adresse and On the Bank of the Seine respectively, the former being his "first sustained campaign of painting that involved tourism".<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":10" />
Several of his paintings had been purchased by Gaudibert, who commissioned a painting of his wife, alongside other projects; the Gaudiberts were for two years "the most supportive of Monet's hometown patrons".<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref> Monet would later be financially supported by the artist and art collector Gustave Caillebotte, Bazille and perhaps Gustave Courbet, although creditors still pursued him.<ref name=":4" />Template:Sfn
Exile and ArgenteuilEdit
He married Camille on 28 June 1870, just before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.<ref name="Stuckey">Charles Stuckey "Monet, a Retrospective", Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 195</ref> During the war, he and his family lived in London and the Netherlands to avoid conscription.<ref name=":11" />Template:Sfn Monet and Charles-François Daubigny lived in self-imposed exile.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn-ua While living in London, Monet met his old friend Pissarro and the American painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and befriended his first and primary art dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, an encounter that would be decisive for his career. There he saw and admired the works of John Constable and J. M. W. Turner and was impressed by Turner's treatment of light, especially in the works depicting the fog on the Thames.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":11" /><ref name="Bellet">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Lobstein">Dominique Lobstein, Monet, Éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot, 2002, pp. 38, 106-107</ref> He repeatedly painted the Thames, Hyde Park and Green Park.<ref name=":11" /> In the spring of 1871, his works were refused authorisation for inclusion in the Royal Academy exhibition and police suspected him of revolutionary activities.<ref>The texts of seven police reports, written on 2 June – 9 October 1871 are included in Monet in Holland, the catalog of an exhibition in the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum (1986).</ref><ref name="Stuckey" /> That same year he learned of his father's death.<ref name=":4" />
The family moved to Argenteuil in 1871, where he, influenced by his time with Dutch painters, mostly painted the Seine's surrounding area.<ref name="House" />Template:Sfn He acquired a sailboat to paint on the river.<ref name=":4" /> In 1874, he signed a six-and-a-half year lease and moved into a newly built "rose-colored house with green shutters" in Argenteuil, where he painted fifteen paintings of his garden from a panoramic perspective.<ref name="House" />Template:Sfn Paintings such as Gladioli marked what was likely the first time Monet had cultivated a garden for the purpose of his art.<ref name="House" /> The house and garden became the "single most important" motif of his final years in Argenteuil.Template:Sfn For the next four years, he painted mostly in Argenteuil and took an interest in the colour theories of chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul.<ref name=":4" /> For three years of the decade, he rented a large villa in Saint-Denis for a thousand francs per year. Camille Monet on a Garden Bench displays the garden of the villa, and what some have argued to be Camille's grief upon learning of her father's death.Template:Sfn
Monet and Camille were often in financial straits during this period—they were unable to pay their hotel bill during the summer of 1870 and likely lived on the outskirts of London as a result of insufficient funds. An inheritance from his father, together with sales of his paintings, did, however, enable them to hire two servants and a gardener by 1872.<ref name=":8" /><ref>Poulet, Anne L.; Murphy, Alexandra R. (1979). Corot to Braque: French Paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: The Museum. p. 92. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Fourny-Dargère, Sophie, and Claude Monet (1992). Monet. New York: Konecky and Konecky. pp. 58, 64. Template:ISBN.</ref> Following the successful exhibition of some maritime paintings and the winning of a silver medal at Le Havre, Monet's paintings were seized by creditors, from whom they were bought back by a shipping merchant, Gaudibert, who was also a patron of Boudin.<ref name="Stuckey11">Charles F. Stuckey, pp. 11–16</ref>
ImpressionismEdit
When Durand-Ruel's previous support of Monet and his peers began to decline, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot exhibited their work independently; they did so under the name the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers for which Monet was a leading figure in its formation.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":11" /> He was inspired by the style and subject matter of his slightly older contemporaries, Pissarro and Édouard Manet.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The group, whose title was chosen to avoid association with any style or movement, were unified in their independence from the Salon and rejection of the prevailing academicism.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Monet gained a reputation as the foremost landscape painter of the group.Template:Sfn
At the first exhibition, in 1874, Monet displayed, among others, Impression, Sunrise, The Luncheon and Boulevard des Capucines.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The art critic Louis Leroy wrote a hostile review. Taking particular notice of Impression, Sunrise (1872), a hazy depiction of Le Havre port and stylistic detour, he coined the term "Impressionism". Conservative critics and the public derided the group, with the term initially being ironic and denoting the painting as unfinished.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":5" /> More progressive critics praised the depiction of modern life—Louis Edmond Duranty called their style a "revolution in painting".<ref name=":5" /> Leroy later regretted inspiring the name, as he believed that they were a group "whose majority had nothing impressionist".Template:Sfn
The total attendance is estimated at 3,500. Monet priced Impression: Sunrise at 1,000 francs, but failed to sell it.<ref name="Denvir">Bernard Denvir, The Chronicle of Impressionism: A Timeline History of Impressionist Art, Bulfinch Press Book, 1993</ref><ref name="Denvir b">Bernard Denvir, The chronicle of impressionism: an intimate diary of the lives and world of the great artists Template:Webarchive, Thames & Hudson, Limited, 1993</ref><ref name="archives">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The exhibition was open to anyone prepared to pay 60 francs and gave artists the opportunity to show their work without the interference of a jury.<ref name="Denvir" /><ref name="Denvir b" /><ref name="archives" /> Another exhibition was held in 1876, again in opposition to the Salon. Monet displayed 18 paintings, including The Beach at Sainte-Adresse which showcased multiple Impressionist characteristics.<ref name=":10" />Template:Sfn
For the third exhibition, on 5 April 1877, he selected seven paintings from the dozen he had made of Gare Saint-Lazare in the past three months, the first time he had "synced as many paintings of the same site, carefully coordinating their scenes and temporalities".<ref name=":14">Template:Cite journal</ref> The paintings were well received by critics, who especially praised the way he captured the arrival and departures of the trains.<ref name=":14" /> By the fourth exhibition, his involvement was by means of negotiation on Caillebotte's part.<ref name=":11" /> His last time exhibiting with the Impressionists was in 1882—four years before the final Impressionist exhibition.<ref name=":13">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn
Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Morisot, Cézanne and Sisley proceeded to experiment with new methods of depicting reality. They rejected the dark, contrasting lighting of romantic and realist paintings, in favour of the pale tones of their peers' paintings such as those by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Boudin.Template:Sfn After developing methods for painting transient effects, Monet would go on to seek more demanding subjects, new patrons and collectors; his paintings produced in the early 1870s left a lasting impact on the movement and his peers—many of whom moved to Argenteuil as a result of admiring his depiction.<ref name=":11" />Template:Sfn
- Paintings 1858–1872
- Monet, Claude - View At Rouelles, Le Havre (1858).jpg
View at Rouelles, Le Havre 1858, private collection; an early work showing the influence of Corotà Sainte-Adresse and Courbet
- Claude Monet - Mouth of the Seine.jpg
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- Claude Monet - La Vague Verte.jpg
The Green Wave, 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Claude Monet 024.jpg
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- Claude Monet 022.jpg
Woman in the Garden, 1867, Hermitage, St. Petersburg; a study in the effect of sunlight and shadow on colour.
- Claude Monet - Jardin à Sainte-Adresse.jpg
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- Claude Monet - The Luncheon - Google Art Project.jpg
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- Claude Monet La Grenouillére.jpg
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- Claude Monet - On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt - 1922.427 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg
- Claude Monet - The Magpie - Google Art Project.jpg
The Magpie, 1868–1869. Musée d'Orsay, Paris; one of Monet's early attempts at capturing the effect of snow on the landscape. See also Snow at Argenteuil
- Claude Monet, 1870, Le port de Trouville (Breakwater at Trouville, Low Tide), oil on canvas, 54 x 65.7 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.jpg
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- Claude Monet 002.jpg
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- Houses on the Achterzaan MET DT719.jpg
Houses on the Achterzaan, 1871, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Claude Monet - Jean Monet on his Hobby Horse.jpg
Jean Monet On His Hobby Horse, 1872. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Claude Monet - Springtime - Google Art Project.jpg
Springtime 1872, Walters Art Museum
- Ships Riding on the Seine at Rouen by Claude Monet, 1872.jpg
Ships Riding on the Seine at Rouen, 1872, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Death of Camille and VétheuilEdit
In 1875, Monet returned to figure painting with Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, after effectively abandoning it with The Luncheon. His interest in the figure continued for the next four years—reaching its crest in 1877 and concluding altogether in 1890.<ref name=":2" />Template:Sfn In an "unusually revealing" letter to Théodore Duret, Monet discussed his revitalised interest: "I am working like never before on a new endeavour figures in plein air, as I understand them. This is an old dream, one that has always obsessed me and that I would like to master once and for all. But it is all so difficult! I am working very hard, almost to the point of making myself ill".
In 1876, Camille Monet became seriously ill.<ref name="Milner_16">Milner, Frank (1991) Monet. New York: Mallard Press. p. 16. Template:ISBN.</ref> Their second son, Michel, was born in 1878, after which Camille's health deteriorated further.<ref name="Milner_16"/> In the autumn of that year, they moved to the village of Vétheuil where they shared a house with the family of Ernest Hoschedé, a wealthy department store owner and patron of the arts who had commissioned four paintings from Monet.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":11" /> In 1878, Camille was diagnosed with uterine cancer.<ref>Jiminez, Jill Berk (2013). Dictionary of Artists' Models. Routledge. p. 165. Template:ISBN.</ref> She died the next year.<ref name=":11" /> Her death, alongside financial difficulties—once having to leave his house to avoid creditors—afflicted Monet's career; Hoschedé had recently purchased several paintings but soon went bankrupt, leaving for Paris in hopes of regaining his fortune, as interest in the Impressionists dwindled.Template:Sfn<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":11" />
Monet made a study in oils of his dead wife. Many years later, he confessed to his friend Georges Clemenceau that his need to analyse colours was both a joy and a torment to him. He explained: "I one day found myself looking at my beloved wife's dead face and just systematically noting the colours according to an automatic reflex".<ref>Berger (1985), p. 194</ref> John Berger describes the work as "a blizzard of white, grey, purplish paint ... a terrible blizzard of loss which will forever efface her features. In fact there can be very few death-bed paintings which have been so intensely felt or subjectively expressive."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Monet's study of the Seine continued. He submitted two paintings to the Salon in 1880, one of which was accepted.<ref name=":4" /> He began to abandon Impressionist techniques as his paintings utilised darker tones and displayed environments, such as the Seine River, in harsh weather. For the rest of the decade, he focused on the elemental aspect of nature.<ref name=":63"/>Template:Sfn The major event of the winter of 1881 was without any doubt that he again sold his paintings to Durand-Ruel.<ref name=":4" /> Because of Monet's continual difficulty in paying his rent, the landlady at Vétheuil refused to extend his tenancy, and in December 1881 Monet moved with Alice and her children to Poissy. In addition to the debts he had accumulated, there was also the problem of finding a suitable school for his son Jean.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The stay in Poissy would not last very long. In December 1882 the Seine had overflowed its banks and there was a danger of flooding the Monet residence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
His personal life influenced his distancing from the Impressionists.<ref name=":11" /> In January 1883 he returned to Étretat and expressed in letters to Alice Hoschedé—who he would marry in 1892, following her husband's death the preceding year—a desire to die.Template:Sfn<ref name=":11" />Template:Sfn At this time Monet was afraid of losing Alice to her husband, who was suddenly speaking of taking her back. On February 21, Monet and Alice Hoschedé finally met again at Poissy, and there was no more doubt that she would now stay by his side.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Alice's third daughter, Suzanne, would become Monet's "preferred model", after Camille.Template:Sfn
In April 1883 Monet informed Durand-Ruel that he was searching for a house around Vernon, a city he had frequently passed through while traveling between Paris and Normandy. On April 29 he moved into a rented house in Giverny near Vernon with some of his children, followed by Alice Hoschedé the day after. This house subsequently became the permanent home of the Monet family.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> That same year his first major retrospective show was held.Template:Sfn
Bordighera and a turn to prosperityEdit
In December 1883 Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir left Paris by train for a short painting trip to Italy, along the Italian Riviera and to Genoa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
On the way back, Monet and Renoir stopped briefly at l´Estaque, near Marseille, to visit Cézanne, before returning to Giverny late December. During this trip Monet discovered the small town of Bordighera which he found particularly attractive: in a letter to Durand-Ruel on January 12, 1884, he described it as “one of the most beautiful places we saw on our trip”<ref name=":6">Template:Cite book</ref>
In the years leading up to 1883, Bordighera, with its mild climate and stunning coastal views, had become widely popular as a winter destination for tourists, particularly among the European elite as well as artists and intellectuals. One of the town's main attractions were the Moreno Gardens which, in tourist guidebooks of that time, were described not only as one of the most attractive and delightful locations of the Mediterranean, but also as some of the most beautiful and renowned gardens in Europe.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Earlier in 1883 the famous architect Charles Garnier wrote a piece in a travel book called Artistic features of Bordighera. In the first chapter, he claims that “in truth, Bordighera is far less Italy than Palestine…” referring to the old town, the free growing palm trees and the exotic gardens. In his text Garnier recommends eight point of views which he finds most interesting for any artist to paint.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Soon after his return to Giverny, Monet wrote to his art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel expressing his desire to go back to Italy and Bordighera for a longer stay. He put forward his desire to go on his own and asked Durand-Ruel not to mention his wish to anyone, especially not to Renoir.<ref name=":6" /> Monet initially intended to spend three weeks in the Ligurian town but ended up staying for a period of almost three months, from January 18 to April 5, during which he produced thirty-eight paintings with Bordighera motifs.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Monet was deeply affected by the beauty of Bordighera and its surroundings, which he described as magic - a fairy tale country.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The unique light and luxuriant vegetation presented themselves as a completely new challenge. In a letter to Alice Horschedé, he wrote “These palm trees are exasperating, and also the motifs are extremely difficult to render, to put down on canvas, everything is so lush”.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
During his sojourn in Bordighera Monet had initially intended to paint “orange and lemon trees against the blue sea” but he could not find any that really pleased him therefore he only produced one painting with a citrus tree motif, Under the Lemon Trees.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During his stay in Bordighera, Monet went to nearby Dolceaqua where he painted the bridge which he called “a little gem of elegance”.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Some of the most notable compositions from his stay in Bordighera are View of Bordighera, Olive Trees, Villas at Bordighera, The Moreno Garden, Valley of Sasso and Dolceacqua.
The Bordighera paintings are not so well known to the public as some of his work. One explanation presented<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is that following the Paris Stock market crash of 1882 Monet's art dealer Durand-Ruels suffered a severe financial loss and consequently, he had to pawn several of Monet's Bordighera paintings as soon as he had received them.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Monet, who had been eager to hear what critics would say about his latest work, was devastated when he found out that they would never be exhibited. Eventually, after Durand-Ruel left for the United States in 1886, Monet could only express his utter frustration by writing letters where he accused the dealer of being “only concerned with the United States while we (the Impressionists) are being forgotten in France”.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Finally leaving Bordighera, Monet stopped in Menton to paint the Cap Martin and Monte Carlo before embarking on the 24 hour trip back to Giverny.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In a letter sent to Monet in 1884, Paul Durand-Ruel mentions Monet's financial worries, and tells him that both the stockbroker Theodore-Charles Gadala and Georges Clemenceau have purchased paintings.<ref>Paul Durand-Ruel, "Letter to Claude Monet", Correspondence with Claude Monet, May–November 1884, accessed March 29, 2024.</ref> Monet's struggles with creditors ended following his prosperous trips; to Bordighera in 1884,<ref name=":4" />Template:Sfn and to the Netherlands in 1886 to paint the tulips. He soon met and became friends with Gustave Geffroy, who published an article on Monet.<ref name=":4" /> Despite his qualms, Monet's paintings were sold in America and contributed towards his financial security.<ref name=":11" /> In contrast to the last two decades of his career, Monet favoured working alone—and felt that he was always better when he did, having regularly "long[ed] for solitude, away from crowded tourist resorts and sophisticated urban settings".<ref name=":15" />Template:Sfn Such a desire was recurrent in his letters to Alice.<ref name=":15" />Template:Sfn
- Paintings 1873–1886
- Effet de Brouillard by Claude Monet.jpg
Effet de Brouillard, Template:Circa
- Claude Monet, 1873, Camille Monet on a Bench, oil on canvas, 60.6 x 80.3 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.jpg
Camille Monet on a Garden Bench, 1873, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Claude Monet - The Seine at Argenteuil 1873.jpg
The Seine at Argenteuil, 1873
- Claude Monet - The Artist's House at Argenteuil.jpg
The Artist's House at Argenteuil, 1873, Art Institute of Chicago
- Claude Monet - Poppy Field - Google Art Project.jpg
Coquelicots, La promenade (Poppies), 1873, Musée d'Orsay, Paris
- Pont Argenteuil Monet 1.jpg
Argenteuil, 1874, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
- Claude Monet The Studio Boat.jpg
The Studio Boat, 1874, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands
- Claude Monet Camille au métier.jpg
Camille au métier, 1875, Barnes collection
- Claude Monet - Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son - Google Art Project.jpg
Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
- Claude Monet-Madame Monet en costume japonais.jpg
Madame Monet in a Japanese Kimono, 1876, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Claude Monet Le bateau atelier.jpg
- Claude Monet - Flowered Riverbank, Argenteuil.jpg
Flowers on the Riverbank at Argenteuil, 1877, Pola Museum of Art, Japan
- Monet - Vetheuil im Nebel.jpg
Vétheuil in the Fog, 1879, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
- The Thaw at Vétheuil - Monet - Thyssen Museum.jpg
The Thaw at Vétheuil, 1880, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
- La Falaise à Fécamp - Claude Monet - ABDAG003046.jpg
La Falaise à Fécamp, 1881, Aberdeen Art Gallery
- Claude Monet 023.jpg
Study of a Figure Outdoors: Woman with a Parasol, Facing Left, (Suzanne Hoschedé), 1886, Musée d'Orsay
- Claude Monet - Villas at Bordighera - Google Art Project.jpg
Villas In Bordighera, 1884. Musée d´Orsay Paris
- View of Bordighera 1884 Chicago Art Institute.jpg
View of Bordighera, 1884. Chicago Art Institute
- Moreno Garden Bordighera 1884 - The Norton Museum Miami Florida.jpg
Moreno Garden Bordighera, 1884. The Norton Museum, Miami.
- Olive trees study, 1884 - Claude Monet, Private Collection.jpg
Olive trees study Bordighera 1884. Private Collection.
GivernyEdit
In 1883, Monet and his family rented a house and gardens in Giverny, which provided him with the domestic stability he had not, up to that time, enjoyed.<ref name=":11" /> The house was situated near the main road between the towns of Vernon and Gasny at Giverny. There was a barn that doubled as a painting studio, orchards and a small garden. The house was close enough to the local schools for the children to attend, and the surrounding landscape provided numerous natural areas for Monet to paint.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The family worked and built up the gardens, and Monet's fortunes began to change for the better as Durand-Ruel had increasing success in selling his paintings.<ref>Mathews Gedo, Mary. Monet and His Muse: Camille Monet in the Artist's Life. University of Chicago Press, 2010. Template:ISBN</ref> The gardens were Monet's greatest source of inspiration for 40 years.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn In 1890, Monet purchased the house.Template:Sfn During the 1890s, Monet built a greenhouse and a second studio, a spacious building well lit with skylights.
Monet wrote daily instructions to his gardener, precise designs and layouts for plantings, and invoices for his floral purchases and his collection of botany books. As Monet's wealth grew, his garden evolved. He remained its architect, even after he hired seven gardeners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Monet purchased additional land with a water meadow.<ref name=":4" /> White water lilies local to France were planted along with imported cultivars from South America and Egypt, resulting in a range of colours including yellow, blue and white lilies that turned pink with age.<ref name=AGV>Art Gallery of Victoria, Monet's Garden Template:Webarchive, (retrieved 16 December 2013)</ref> In 1902, he increased the size of his water garden by nearly 4000 square metres; the pond was enlarged in 1901 and 1910 with easels installed all around to allow different perspectives to be captured.<ref name=":11" />Template:Sfn
Dissatisfied with the limitations of Impressionism, Monet began to work on series of paintings displaying single subjects—haystacks, poplars and the Rouen Cathedral—to resolve his frustration.<ref name=":63" />Template:Sfn These series of paintings provided widespread critical and financial success; in 1898, 61 paintings were exhibited at the Petit Gallery.Template:Sfn He also began a series of Mornings on the Seine, which portrayed the dawn hours of the river.<ref name=":11" /> In 1887 and 1889 he displayed a series of paintings of Belle Île to rave reviews by critics.<ref name=":15">Template:Cite journal</ref> Monet chose the location in the hope of finding a "new aesthetic language that bypassed learned formulas, one that would be both true to nature and unique to him as an individual, not like anyone else."<ref name=":15" />
LondonEdit
Monet, who had already visited London in 1870-1871, made a first six-week stay in London in September 1899, accompanied by Alice and Germaine Hoschedé, with the aim of both painting and visiting his son Michel, had been living there since the spring. They stayed in a suite on the 6th floor of the prestigious Savoy Hotel, which offered spectacular views of the Thames and south London. <ref name= Wullschläger_Pg350-355>Wullschläger, pp. 350-355</ref> Monet was invigorated by this visit, commenting, “I so love London! But I love it only in winter, for without the fog London wouldn’t be a beautiful city. It’s the fog that gives it its magnificent breadth.”<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg350-355/> During their stay the Monets and Alice in particular became friends with English hostess and patron of the arts Mary Hunter (1857-1933).<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg350-355/> She introduced the Monets to her social circle including her sister Ethel Smyth. He returned to the same hotel for two more stays, in February and March 1900 and from January to March 1901. The latter visit was ended by pleurisy, with him having to spend three weeks in his hotel room without being able to paint. <ref name= Randerson >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During his stays, he painted Waterloo Bridge early in the morning at sunrise, then Charing Cross Bridge in the afternoon. It was during his second stay that he began to paint the Houses of Parliament, from St Thomas' Hospital in the late afternoon and at sunset.<ref name=Randerson/> Through a doctor based at St Thomas, Mary Hunter had been able to facilitate Monets access to an suitable vantage point at the hospital.<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg350-355/> Into total Monet produced a series that included 41 paintings of Waterloo bridge, 34 of Charing Cross bridge and 19 of the House of Parliament.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite journal</ref> The paintings continued to be retouched in the studio until 1904. The series Views of the Thames in London - 1900 to 1904 was exhibited in May and June 1904.
Water liliesEdit
In 1899, he began painting the water lilies that would occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life, being his last and "most ambitious" sequence of paintings.<ref name="House" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He had exhibited this first group of pictures of the garden, devoted primarily to his Japanese bridge, in 1900.<ref name=":11" />
Depictions of the water lilies, with alternating light and mirror-like reflections, became an integral part of his work.<ref>Muir, Kim; Sutherland, Ken. "Color, Chemistry, and Creativity in Monet's Water Lilies Template:Webarchive". Art Institute of Chicago, 9 February 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021</ref> By the mid-1910s Monet had achieved "a completely new, fluid, and somewhat audacious style of painting in which the water-lily pond became the point of departure for an almost abstract art".<ref>"Water Lilies Template:Webarchive". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 6 June 2021</ref> Claude Roger-Marx noted in a review of Monet's successful 1909 exhibition of the first Water Lilies series that he had "reached the ultimate degree of abstraction and imagination joined to the real".Template:Sfn This exhibition, entitled Waterlilies, a Series of Waterscape, consisted of 42 canvases, his "largest and most unified series to date".<ref name=":11" /> He would ultimately make over 250 paintings of the Waterlilies.<ref name=":13" />
At his house, Monet met with artists, writers, intellectuals and politicians from France, England, Japan and the United States.Template:Sfn In the summer of 1887, he met John Singer Sargent whose experimentation with figure painting out of doors intrigued him; the pair went on to frequently influence each other.Template:Sfn
- Garden
- Monet - Im Garten - 1895.jpeg
In the Garden, 1895, Collection E. G. Buehrle, Zürich
- 1914-26 Claude Monet Agapanthus MOMA NY anagoria.JPG
Agapanthus, between 1914 and 1926, Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Claude Monet - Flowering Arches, Giverny.JPG
Flowering Arches, Giverny, 1913, Phoenix Art Museum
- Water-Lilies-and-Japanese-Bridge-(1897-1899)-Monet.jpg
Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge, 1897–1899, Princeton University Art Museum
- Monet - Seerosen 1906.jpg
Water Lilies, 1906, Art Institute of Chicago
- Monet - Seerosen6.jpg
Water Lilies, Musée Marmottan Monet
- Nympheas 71293 3.jpg
Water Lilies, Template:Circa 1915, Neue Pinakothek, Munich
- Monet - Seerosen5.jpg
Water Lilies, Template:Circa, Musée Marmottan Monet
VeniceEdit
In the autumn of 1908 Alice took up the offer made by her friend Mary Hunter for the Monets to stay with her in the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice which she had rented for the season.<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg379-384>Wullschläger, pp. 379-384</ref><ref name=":11" /> Initially Monet was not keen on visiting Venice as Alice recorded in a letter to her daughter Germaine, “Monet very sad … to leave, he can’t bring himself to give up his pond and his flowers. I’ve heard this so much that, really, it spoils the pleasure of the journey.”<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg379-384/> The Monets arrived in Italy on 1 October.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Monets stayed with Hunter for the last two weeks on her tenancy before the couple relocated to the Hotel Britannia, which was chosen for its views.
Initially Monet only tentatively began painting images of the city but Alice was of the opinion expressed in a letter to Germaine, that Venice “is so beautiful and so created to tempt you, but who can render those marvelous effects. I see only my Monet who can do it.”<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg379-384/> Monet was soon enchanted, writing, “what misfortune not to have come here when I was younger, when I had all the boldness. Still… I’ve spent delicious moments here, almost forgetting that I was the old man I am.” Each day the couple will slip out by gondola before eight in the morning to explore and paint the city, which after a break for lunch would continue until seven.<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg379-384/> As they stayed longer and the days became colder Alice hunted for warm clothing to allow Monet to continue painting outside and even managed to obtain a fur coat for him from the young artist Louis Aston Knight.<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg379-384/> Their three-month stay resulted in Monet painting 37 works of Venice, most a series of artworks on the same motif at different times of the day. including the Le Grand Canal and five more depicting the same theme, as well as The Doge's Palace Seen from San Giorgio Maggiore, and San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk. On the way home in December the couple broke their journey for what turned into a four day stay with Renoir at Cagnes. Once back in Giverny and while not finished Monet sold all of his Venice paintings on 12 December 1908 to the Bernheim-Jeune brothers for 12,000 francs each.<ref name= Wullschläger_Pg379-384/>
Failing sightEdit
Monet's second wife, Alice, died in 1911, and his oldest son, Jean, who had married Alice's daughter, Blanche, Monet's particular favourite, died in 1914.<ref name="guggenheim">Biography for Claude Monet Template:Webarchive Guggenheim Collection. Retrieved 6 January 2007.</ref> Their deaths left Monet depressed, as Blanche cared for him.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" /> It was during this time that Monet began to develop the first signs of possible cataracts.<ref name=":12">Forge, Andrew, and Gordon, Robert, Monet, page 224. Harry N. Abrams, 1989.</ref> In 1913, Monet travelled to London to consult the German ophthalmologist Richard Liebreich. He was prescribed new glasses and rejected cataract surgery for the right eye.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> The next year, Monet, encouraged by Clemenceau, made plans to construct a new, large studio that he could use to create a "decorative cycle of paintings devoted to the water garden".<ref name=":11" />
In the following years, his perception of colour suffered; his broad strokes were broader and his paintings were increasingly darker. To achieve his desired outcome, he began to label his tubes of paint, kept a strict order on his palette and wore a straw hat to negate glare.<ref name=":0" /> He approached painting by formulating the ideas and features in his mind, taking the "motif in large masses" and transcribing them through memory and imagination. This was due to him being "insensitive" to the "finer shades of tonalities and colors seen close up".Template:Sfn
Monet's output decreased as he became withdrawn, although he did produce several panel paintings for the French Government, from 1914 to 1918 to great financial success and he would later create works for the state.<ref name=":0" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His work on the "cycle of paintings" mostly occurred around 1916 to 1921.<ref name=":11" /> Cataract surgery was once again recommended, this time by Clemenceau.<ref name=":0" /> Monet—who was apprehensive, following Honoré Daumier and Mary Cassatt's botched surgeries—stated that he would rather have poor sight and perhaps abandon painting than forego "a little of these things that I love".<ref name=":0" /> In 1919, Monet began a series of landscape paintings, "in full force" although he was not pleased with the outcome.Template:Sfn By October, the weather caused Monet to cease plein air painting and the next month he sold four of the eleven Water Lilies paintings, despite his then-reluctance to relinquish his work.Template:Sfn The series inspired praise from his peers; his later works were well received by dealers and collectors, and he received 200,000 francs from one collector.Template:Sfn
In 1922 a prescription of mydriatics provided short-lived relief. He eventually underwent cataract surgery in 1923. Persistent cyanopsia and aphakic spectacles proved to be a struggle. Now "able to see the real colours", he began to destroy canvases from his pre-operative period.<ref name=":0" /> Upon receiving tinted Zeiss lenses, Monet was laudatory, although his left eye soon had to be entirely covered by a black lens. By 1925, his visual impairment was improved and he began to retouch some of his pre-operative works, with bluer water lilies than before.<ref>Let the light shine in Template:Webarchive Guardian News, 30 May 2002. Retrieved 6 January 2007.</ref><ref name=":0" />
During World War I, in which his younger son, Michel, served, Monet painted a Weeping Willow series as homage to the French fallen soldiers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He became deeply dedicated to the decorations of his garden during the war.Template:Sfn
- Late paintings
- Nymphéas reflets de saule 1916-19.jpg
Water Lilies and Reflections of a Willow (1916–1919), Musée Marmottan Monet
- Claude Monet, Water-Lily Pond and Weeping Willow.JPG
Water-Lily Pond and Weeping Willow, 1916–1919, Sale Christie's New York, 1998
- Claude Monet, Weeping Willow.JPG
- Claude Monet Weeping Willow.jpg
Weeping Willow, 1918–19, Kimball Art Museum, Fort Worth, Monet's Weeping Willow paintings were an homage to the fallen French soldiers of World War I
- Monet - Das Haus in den Rosen.jpeg
House Among the Roses, between 1917 and 1919, Albertina, Vienna
- Monet- Der Rosenweg in Giverny.jpeg
The Rose Walk, Giverny, 1920–1922, Musée Marmottan Monet
- 1920-22 Claude Monet The Japanese Footbridge MOMA NY anagoria.JPG
The Japanese Footbridge, 1920–1922, Museum of Modern Art
- Claude Monet - Wisteria - Google Art Project.jpg
Wisteria, 1920–1925, Kunstmuseum Den Haag
MethodEdit
Monet has been described as "the driving force behind Impressionism".<ref name="GJ">Template:Cite book</ref> Crucial to the art of the Impressionist painters was the understanding of the effects of light on the local colour of objects, and the effects of the juxtaposition of colours with each other.<ref name="HelenGardner">Template:Cite book</ref> His free flowing style and use of colour have been described as "almost ethereal" and the "[epitome] of impressionist style"; Impression, Sunrise is an example of the "fundamental" Impressionist principle of depicting only that which is purely visible.<ref name=":63" /><ref name=":1" /> Monet was fascinated with the effects of light, and painting en plein air—he believed that his only "merit lies in having painted directly in front of nature, seeking to render my impressions of the most fleeting effects"Template:Sfn<ref name=":1" /> Wanting to "paint the air", he often combined modern life subjects in outdoor light.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Monet made light the central focus of his paintings. To capture its variations, he would sometimes complete a painting in one sitting, often without preparation.Template:Sfn He wished to demonstrate how light altered colour and perception of reality.<ref name=":63" /> His interest in light and reflection began in the late 1860s and lasted throughout his career.Template:Sfn During his first time in London, he developed an admiration for the relationship between the artist and motifs—for what he deemed the "envelope".<ref name=":9" /> He utilised pencil drawings to quickly note subjects and motifs for future reference.<ref name=":11" />
Monet's portrayal of landscapes emphasised industrial elements such as railways and factories; his early seascapes featured brooding nature depicted with muted colours and local residents.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":5" /> Critic, and friend of Monet, Théodore Duret noted, in 1874, that he was "little attracted by rustic scenes...He [felt] particularly drawn towards nature when it is embellished and towards urban scenes and for preference he paint[ed] flowery gardens, parks and groves."<ref name="House" /> When depicting figures and landscapes in tandem, Monet wished for the landscape to not be a mere backdrop and the figures not to dominate the composition.Template:Sfn His dedication to such a portrayal of landscapes resulted in Monet reprimanding Renoir for defying it.Template:Sfn He often depicted the suburban and rural leisure activities of Paris and as a young artist experimented with still lifes.Template:Sfn<ref name=":5" /> From the 1870s onwards, he gradually moved away from suburban and urban landscapes—when they were depicted it was to further his study of light.<ref name=":13" /> Contemporary critics—and later academics—felt that with his choice of showcasing Belle Île, he had indicated a desire to move away from the modern culture of Impressionist paintings and instead towards primitive nature.<ref name=":15" />
After meeting Boudin, Monet dedicated himself to searching for new and improved methods of painterly expression. To this end, as a young man, he visited the Salon and familiarised himself with the works of older painters, and made friends with other young artists.<ref name="GJ" /> The five years that he spent at Argenteuil, spending much time on the River Seine in a little floating studio, were formative in his study of the effects of light and reflections. He began to think in terms of colours and shapes rather than scenes and objects. He used bright colours in dabs and dashes and squiggles of paint. Having rejected the academic teachings of Gleyre's studio, he freed himself from theory, saying "I like to paint as a bird sings."<ref>Jennings, p. 130</ref> Boudin, Daubigny, Jongkind, Courbet, and Corot were among Monet's influences and he would often work in accordance with developments in avant-garde art.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
In 1877 a series of paintings at St-Lazare Station had Monet looking at smoke and steam and the way that they affected colour and visibility, being sometimes opaque and sometimes translucent. He was to further use this study in the painting of the effects of mist and rain on the landscape.<ref>Jennings (1986), p. 132</ref> The study of the effects of atmosphere was to evolve into a number of series of paintings in which Monet repeatedly painted the same subject (such as his water lilies series)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in different lights, at different hours of the day, and through the changes of weather and season. This process began in the 1880s and continued until the end of his life in 1926.Template:Citation needed In his later career, Monet "transcended" the Impressionist style and begun to push the boundaries of art.<ref name=":63" />Template:Sfn
Monet refined his palette in the 1870s, consciously minimising the use of darker tones and favouring pastel colours. This coincided with his softer approach, using smaller and more varied brush strokes. His palette would again undergo change in the 1880s, with more emphasis than before on harmony between warm and cold hues.<ref name=":11" /> Following his optical operation in 1923, Monet returned to his style from before a decade ago. He forwent garish colours or "coarse application" for emphasised colour schemes of blue and green.<ref name=":0" /> Whilst suffering from cataracts, his paintings were more broad and abstract—from the late 1880s onwards, he had simplified his compositions and sought subjects that could offer broad colour and tone.<ref name=":0" />Template:Sfn He increasingly used red and yellow tones, a trend that first started following his trip to Venice.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> Monet often travelled alone at this time—from France to Normandy to London; to the Rivera and Rouen—in search of new and more challenging subjects.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
The stylistic change was likely a by-product of the disorder and not an intentional choice.<ref name=":0" /> Monet would often work on large canvases due to the deterioration of his eyesight and by 1920 he admitted that he had grown too accustomed to broad painting to return to small canvases.<ref name=":63"/>Template:Sfn The influence of his cataracts on his output has been a topic of discussion among academics; Lane et al. (1997) argues the occurrence of a deterioration from the late 1860s onwards led to a diminishing of sharp lines.<ref name=":1" /> Gardens were a focus throughout his art, becoming prominent in his later work, especially during the last decade of his life.<ref name="House" />Template:Sfn Daniel Wildenstein noted a "seamless" continuity in his paintings that was "enriched by innovation".Template:Sfn
From the 1880s onwards—and particularly in the 1890s—Monet's series of paintings of specific subjects sought to document the different conditions of light and weather.<ref name=":11" /> As light and weather changed throughout the day, he switched between canvases—sometimes working on as many as eight at one time—usually spending an hour on each.<ref name=":11" /> In 1895, he exhibited 20 paintings of Rouen Cathedral, showcasing the façade in different conditions of light, weather and atmosphere.<ref name=":11" /> The paintings do not focus on the grand Medieval building, but on the play of light and shade across its surface, transforming the solid masonry.<ref>Jennings p. 137</ref> For this series, he experimented with creating his own frames.Template:Sfn
His first series exhibited was of haystacks, painted from different points of view and at different times of the day. Fifteen of the paintings were exhibited at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1891. In 1892 he produced twenty-six views of Rouen Cathedral.<ref name="HelenGardner" /> Between 1883 and 1908, Monet travelled to the Mediterranean, where he painted landmarks, landscapes, and seascapes, including a series of paintings in Venice. In London he painted four series: the Houses of Parliament, London, Charing Cross Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, and Views of Westminster Bridge. Helen Gardner writes:
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- Series of paintings
- La Gare Saint-Lazare - Claude Monet.jpg
La Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877, Musée d'Orsay
- Claude Monet - Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare - Google Art Project.jpg
CitationClass=web }}</ref> a part of Monet's Gare Saint-Lazare series.
- Claude Monet The Cliffs at Etretat.jpg
The Cliffs at Etretat, 1885, Clark Art Institute
- Monet - Segelboote hinter der Nadel bei Eretat 1885.jpg
Sailboats behind the needle at Etretat, 1885
- Scogli a Belle-Île.jpg
- Claude Monet - Les Pyramides de Port-Coton, effet de soleil.jpg
The Pyramides at Port-Coton, Sun Effect, 1886, Private collection
- Claude Monet, Grainstacks in the Sunlight, Morning Effect, 1890, oil on canvas 65 x 100 cm.jpg
Two paintings from a series of grainstacks, 1890–91: Grainstacks in the Sunlight, Morning Effect
- 1270 Wheatstacks, 1890-91, 65.8 x 101 cm, 25 7-8 x 39 3-4 in, The Art Institute of Chicago.jpg
Grainstacks, end of day, Autumn, 1890–1891, Art Institute of Chicago
- Monet-fondazione-magnani-rocca.png
Falaise a Pourville soleil levant, 1897, Magnani-Rocca Foundation
- Falaise à Pourville (1896) Claude Monet (W 1421).jpg
Falaise a Pourville soleil levant, 1897, private collection
- Claude Monet - Les Peupliers.jpg
- Monet Poplars on the River Epte.jpg
Poplars at the River Epte, 1891 Tate, London
- Claude Monet - Rouen Cathedral, Facade (Sunset).JPG
Rouen Cathedral at sunset, 1893, Musée Marmottan Monet
- Getty monet rouen cathedral.jpg
Rouen Cathedral, Morning Light, 1894, J. Paul Getty Museum
- Claude Monet - Branch of the Seine near Giverny.JPG
The Seine Near Giverny, 1897, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Claude Monet - Morning on the Seine - Google Art Project.jpg
Morning on the Seine, 1898, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
- Charing Cross Bridge, Monet.jpg
Charing Cross Bridge, 1899, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
- Claude Monet - Charing Cross Bridge (Saint Louis).jpg
Charing Cross Bridge, London, 1899–1901, Saint Louis Art Museum
- Claude Monet, Houses of Parliament, London, 1900-1903, 1933.1164, Art Institute of Chicago.jpg
Two paintings from a series of The Houses of Parliament, London, 1900–01, Art Institute of Chicago
- London, the Houses of Parliament, Sunlight Opening in Fog, by Claude Monet.jpg
London, Houses of Parliament. The Sun Shining through the Fog, 1904, Musée d'Orsay
- Claude Monet, Le Grand Canal.jpg
Grand Canal, Venice, 1908, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Monet Grand Canal Legion of Honor.jpg
Grand Canal, Venice, 1908, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- Claude Monet, Saint-Georges majeur au crépuscule.jpg
- Monet, Claude - The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice - Google Art Project.jpg
Water liliesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Following his return from London, Monet painted mostly from nature, in his own garden; its water lilies, its pond and its bridge. From 22 November to 15 December 1900, another exhibition dedicated to him was held at the Durand-Ruel gallery, with around ten versions of the Water Lilies exhibited. This same exhibition was organized in February 1901 in New York City, where it was met with great success.<ref name="Lobstein" />
In 1901, Monet enlarged the pond of his home by buying a meadow located on the other side of the Ru, the local watercourse. He then divided his time between work on nature and work in his studio.<ref>Daniel Wildenstein, Monet ou le Triomphe de l'Impressionnisme, Cologne, Taschen, 1996, p. 362</ref>
The canvases dedicated to the water lilies evolved with the changes made to his garden. In addition, around 1905, Monet gradually modified his aesthetics by abandoning the perimeter of the body of water and therefore modifying his perspective. He also changed the shape and size of his canvases by moving from rectangular stretchers to square and then circular stretchers.<ref name="Lobstein" />
These canvases were created with great difficulty: Monet spent a significant amount of time reworking them in order to find the perfect effects and impressions. When he deemed them unsuccessful he did not hesitate to destroy them. He continually postponed the Durand-Ruel exhibition until he was satisfied with the works. After several postponements dating back to 1906, the exhibition titled Les Nymphéas opened on 6 May 1909. Comprising forty-eight paintings dating from 1903 to 1908, representing a series of landscapes and water lily scenes, the exhibition was again a success.<ref name="Lobstein" />
- Water lilies
- Le bassin aux nymphéas - Claude Monet.jpg
lang}}, 1919. Monet's late series of water lily paintings are among his best-known works.
- WLA metmuseum Water Lilies by Claude Monet.jpg
Water Lilies, 1919, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Claude Monet - Water Lilies, 1917-1919.JPG
Water Lilies, 1917–1919, Honolulu Museum of Art
- Claude Monet 044.jpg
Water Lilies, 1920, National Gallery, London
- Claude Monet, Water Lilies, ca. 1915-1926.jpg
Water Lilies, Template:Circa, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
- Claude Monet - Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond.jpg
Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond, Template:Circa, Museum of Modern Art, New York
DeathEdit
Monet died of lung cancer on 5 December 1926 at the age of 86 and is buried in the Giverny church cemetery. Monet had insisted that the occasion be simple; thus, only about fifty people attended the ceremony.<ref>P. Tucker Claude Monet: Life and Art, p. 224</ref> At his funeral, Clemenceau removed the black cloth draped over the coffin, stating: "No black for Monet!" and replaced it with a flower-patterned cloth.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At the time of his death, Waterlilies was "technically unfinished".<ref name=":13" />
Monet's home, garden, and water lily pond were bequeathed by Michel to the French Academy of Fine Arts (part of the Institut de France) in 1966. Through the Fondation Claude Monet, the house and gardens were opened for visits in 1980, following restoration.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition to souvenirs of Monet and other objects of his life, the house contains his collection of Japanese woodcut prints, which had a pronounced influence on his art.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The house and garden, along with the Museum of Impressionism, are major attractions in Giverny, which hosts tourists from all over the world.
LegacyEdit
Speaking of Monet's body of work, Wildenstein said that it is "so extensive that its very ambition and diversity challenges our understanding of its importance".Template:Sfn His paintings produced at Giverny and under the influence of cataracts have been said to create a link between Impressionism and twentieth-century art and modern abstract art, respectively.<ref name=":0" />Template:Sfn His later works were a "major" inspiration to Objective abstraction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ellsworth Kelly, following a formative experience at Giverny, paid homage to Monet's works created there with Tableau Vert (1952).Template:Sfn Monet has been called an "intermediary" between tradition and modernism—his work has been examined in relation to postmodernism and influenced Bazille, Sisley, Renoir, and Pissarro.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Monet is now the most famous of the Impressionists; as a result of his contributions to the movement, he "exerted a huge influence on late 19th-century art".Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In May 1927, 27 panel paintings were displayed in the Musée de l'Orangerie, following lengthy negotiations with the French government.Template:Sfn Because his later works were ignored by artists, art historians, critics, and the public, few attended the showing.Template:Sfn In the 1950s, Monet's later works were "rediscovered" by the Abstract Expressionists, who used similar canvasesTemplate:Clarify and were uninterested in the blunt and ideological art of the war.Template:Sfn<ref name=":63"/> A 1952 essay by André Masson helped change the perception of the paintings and inspired an appreciation that began to take shape in 1956–1957.Template:Sfn The next year, a fire in the Museum of Modern Art would see the Water Lilies paintings it had acquired burn.Template:Sfn The large-scale nature of Monet's later paintings proved to be difficult for some museums, which resulted in their altering the framing.Template:Sfn
In 1978, Monet's garden in Giverny—which had grown decrepit over fifty years—was restored and opened to the public.<ref name=":3" /> In 2004, London, the Parliament, Effects of Sun in the Fog (Londres, le Parlement, trouée de soleil dans le brouillard; 1904), sold for US$20.1 million.<ref>"Monet's masterpiece reaches record high bid" Template:Webarchive newsfromrussia.com, 5 November 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2007.</ref> In 2006, the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society published a paper providing evidence that these were painted in situ at St. Thomas' Hospital over the river Thames.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1981, Ronald Pickvance noted that Monet's works after 1880 were increasingly receiving scholarly attention.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Falaises près de Dieppe (Cliffs Near Dieppe) has been stolen on two occasions, once in 1998 (in which the museum's curator was convicted of the theft and jailed for five years and two months, along with two accomplices) and again in August 2007.<ref name="artforum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was recovered in June 2008.<ref name="msnrecovery">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 14 November 2001, a Google Doodle was made for Claude Monet's 161st birthday, depicting the Google logo in Monet's signature style.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was the first Google Doodle made for someone's birthday.
Monet's Le Pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil, an 1873 painting of a railway bridge spanning the Seine near Paris, was bought by an anonymous telephone bidder for a record $41.4 million at Christie's auction in New York on 6 May 2008. The previous record for a Monet painting stood at $36.5 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A few weeks later, Le bassin aux nymphéas (from the water lilies series) sold at Christie's 24 June 2008 auction in London<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> for £40,921,250 ($80,451,178), nearly doubling the record for the artist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This purchase represented one of the top 20 highest prices paid for a painting at the time.
In October 2013, Monet's paintings L'Eglise de Vétheuil and Le Bassin aux Nympheas became subjects of a legal case in New York against New York-based Vilma Bautista, one-time aide to Imelda Marcos, wife of dictator Ferdinand Marcos,<ref name="Associated Press">Ex-Imelda Marcos aide on trial in NYC for selling Monet work Template:Webarchive. Associated Press. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.</ref> after she sold Le Bassin aux Nympheas for $32 million to a Swiss buyer. The said Monet paintings, along with two others, were acquired by Imelda during her husband's presidency and allegedly bought using the nation's funds. Bautista's lawyer claimed that the aide sold the painting for Imelda but did not have a chance to give her the money. The Philippine government seeks the return of the painting.<ref name="Associated Press" /> Le Bassin aux Nympheas, also known as Japanese Footbridge over the Water-Lily Pond at Giverny, is part of Monet's famed Water Lilies series.
A sympathetic portrait of Claude Monet can be found in R. W. Meek's historical fiction novels The Dream Collector, Book I<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Book II.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Monet's documented attack of hysterical blindness is reimagined and cured through hypnosis by the dream collector, Julie Forette.
Nazi lootingEdit
Template:Redirect Under the Nazi regime, both in Germany from 1933 and in German-occupied countries until 1945, Jewish art collectors of Monet were robbed by Nazis and their agents. Several of the stolen artworks have been returned to their rightful owners, while others have been the object of court battles. In 2014, during the spectacular discovery of a hidden trove of art in Munich, a Monet that had belonged to a Jewish retail magnate was found in the suitcase of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of one of Hitler's official dealers of looted art, Hildebrand Gurlitt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Examples of Nazi-looted Monet works include:
- Bord de Mer, purchased by Austrians Adalbert and Hilda Parlagi in 1936. After the Anschluss, they fled in 1938, leaving it in a Vienna warehouse. It resurfaced in France in 2016 and was restored to the Parlagis' granddaughters in 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Haystacks at Giverny belonged to René Gimpel, a French Jewish art dealer killed in a Nazi concentration camp.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Nymphéas, stolen by Nazis in 1940 from Paul Rosenberg.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Au Parc Monceau, previously owned by Ludwig Kainer, whose vast collection was looted by the Nazis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Le Repos Dans Le Jardin Argenteuil, previously owned by Henry and Maria Newman, stolen from a Berlin bank vault, settlement with the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- La Seine à Asnières/Les Péniches sur la Seine, formerly owned by Mrs. Fernand Halphen, taken by agents of the German Embassy in Paris on 10 July 1940.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Monet's Le Palais Ducal, and his 1880 work, Poppy Field near Vétheuil, formerly in the collection of Max Emden, have been the object of restitution claims.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> "La Mare, Snow Effect" ("La Mare, effect de neige") was the object of a settlement with the heirs of Richard Semmel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
FootnotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
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SourcesEdit
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Further readingEdit
- Ganz, James A. and Richard Kendall (2007). The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. Williamstown, Mass. : Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.
- Rey, Jean-Dominique and Denis Rouart (2008). Monet, les nymphéas : l'intégralité (in French). Paris: Flammarion.
- Wildenstein, Daniel (1974–1991). Claude Monet : biographie et catalogue raisonné (in French). Vol. I–V. Lausanne; Paris: Wildenstein Institute and La Bibliothèque des Arts.
External linksEdit
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- Claude Monet, Ministère de la culture et de la communication
- Claude Monet, Joconde, Portail des collections des musées de France
- Monet at Giverny
- Union List of Artist Names, Getty Vocabularies
- Claude Monet at The Guggenheim
- Monet at Norton Simon Museum
- Impressionism: a centenary exhibition, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Monet (p. 131–167)
- Monet: The Late Years exhibition at Kimbell Art Museum
- Claude Monet: The Revised Catalogue Raisonné, The Pastels, the digital catalogue raisonné at the Wildenstein Plattner Institute
- Claude Monet Research Archives (1901–1987)
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