Claude Oscar Monet was born on the 14th of November of 1940 in Paris, France. His parents were Claude Adolphe Monet and his mother was Louise Aubree Monet, a singer. His parents were second generation Parisians. Monet was baptized on May 20, 1841 at Notre Dame de Lorette church. His parents called him Monet instead of Claude. His father wanted him to carry on the family business which was a grocery store. At five years of age Monet already new that his father wanted him to continue the family business.
They moved to Le Harve in Normandy. After a year at Le Harve, Monet entered a secondary school for the arts. There Monet met his childless aunt Marie Jeanne Lecarde when he left school after his mother died.
The life of Claude Oscar Monet under the influence of art
Monet was very young when he started to create art from his imagination. He was at the secondary school at Le Harve where he sold his charcoal caricatures for 10 to 20 francs each. At that early age, he was quite business minded. Monet met his first art teacher, Jacques Francois Orchard, who was a former student of the famous painter Jacques Louis David. His first mentor was Eugene Bourdin who taught him how to use other art materials such as oils on canvas. On the beaches of Normandy Monet learned about outdoor techniques for painting or “en plein air” with his mentor Eugene Bourdin. While in Paris, Monet observed that there were many young artists who would mimic the paintings of their mentors. But Monet was quite unique, he painted what he viewed while seated on location.
Monet decided to join the First Regiment of African Light Calvary, for a seven year commitment in Algeria. He came down with typhoid fever after two years of serving in Algeria, and his aunt insisted that Monet be discharged from the army under one condition, that he enroll in an art school and complete his art education.
While in Paris, Monet became a student of Charles Gleyre. In 1862 he met Pierre August Renoir, along with Frederic Bazille and Alfred Sisley. Their friendship grew as they shared new approaches to art. They later became known as Impressionists. The characteristics of this style of painting include visible strokes and changing qualities with accurate depictions of light. This style made Claude Oscar Monet famous in the field of art.
The first work of art that brought him recognition featured his future wife Camille Doncieux. It was titled Camille or The Woman in the Green Dress. The following year his wife Camille became his model for the figures in Women in the Garden. This was a collection of paintings by Claude Oscar Monet at the age of 26, where the figures were women in very fine dresses enjoying their time in a beautiful garden. Though this type of artwork required bigger canvases, it was rejected for weakness in its subject and narrative at the 1867 Salon exhibition. His previous works were a success at Paris Salons. His good friend Frederic Bazille purchased Monet's painting to help him financially. His next work was On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt. It was created the same year that Camille gave birth to their first child, a baby boy named Jean in 1868.
Later life of Claude Oscar Monet
In September of 1870 in England, Monet studied the works of John Constable and Joseph Mallord William Turner. Their works inspired Monet to innovate with colors. The Royal Academy exhibition refused Monet's works in the spring of the year 1871. Later, he went to Zaandam, Netherlands, where he created 25 paintings. Monet was suspected to be a revolutionist because of these 25 paintings. He returned to France in October of the same year. Just before the war, on June 28, 1870, Monet and Camille married.
Monet’s family moved to Argenteuil after their excursion to London and Zaandam in December of 1871. Monet stayed for seven years at Argenteuil. In this small village near the banks of the Seine River, he creates several of his best known paintings. In 1876 was the beginning of his wife’s illness. They had another child, a baby boy named Michel, on 17th of March 1878. They moved to the village of Vetheuil in that same year. With his wife in weakened and fading health they conceived their second son. His wife Camille died of tuberculosis. Monet painted his wife on her bed, where she died at the age of 32. He then returned to Holland on 1874.
Claude Oscar Monet at his best
While grieving over the death of his wife, Monet promised himself never to be financially unstable again. Monet painted different and larger works such as landscapes and seascapes. Monet moved in with his friend, Ernest Hoschede. His wife Alice Hoschede helped Monet raise his two sons and moved them to live with her children. Later, Monet’s son Jean married one of Alice Hoschede’s daughters, Blanche Hoschede. Then on 1892, they moved to Givenry in Normandy, which peeked Monet’s interest in gardening. In that same year he married Alice Hoschede, after her husband Ernest Hoschede died.
The Death of Claude Oscar Monet
At that age of 86, on the 5th of December, in the year 1926, Claude Oscar Monet died of lung cancer. He was buried at the church cemetery of Givenry. His son Michel opened their house for visitors in 1966. Claude Oscar Monet’s house was restored together with his collections which made this house one of the most famous tourist attractions in Givenry.
