The Art of Painting: Claude Monet

Claude Monet

Monet born in Paris, 1840 enjoyed his youth growing up near the sea at Le Harve. During his years as a young adult he lived with very low income and relied upon friends like Bazille, Manet and Renoir to help support him. He drew caricatures of his teachers and become famous for that in his town. He met his mentor Boudin who convinced Monet to paint in the out doors. This changed Monet's idea of painting and he never looked back.

Bazille, Renoir and Monet shared studio space where they created and used for lodging. He later met Camille and she posed for many of his paintings. One of the most famous is the "Woman in a Green Dress" which was accepted by the salon in Paris. He had two children with Camille, Jean and Michael. Still very poor they made the best of the situation.

Camille never enjoyed the riches Monet had in later life. She died very young, age 32 and Monet later married again to Alice Hoschede. The family settled in Giverny, France. It is at Giverny that Monet created his famous Lilies.

Even as his eyesight began to fail him, he continued on painting and creating his master water lilies for the state of France which today are shown in the Musee de I'Orangerie.

Salvatore Valenti

Following is the chronological study of Monet.

1840 - Birth of Claude-Oscar Monet on November 14 in Paris, Rue Laffitte. Elder son of a grocer.

1845 - Monet family moves to Le Harve, on the Channel coast. There young Monet spends a happy childhood, in daily contact with the sea, under vast, ever- changing skies of Normandy. In his teens he acquires a precocious reputation as a caricaturists.

Eugene Boudin

1858- Monet meets with Eugene Boudin, who orients him toward landscape and open-air painting. "All of a sudden it was like a veil torn from my eyes and I understood at last, I realized what painting could be; thanks to the example of this painter, enamored of his art and practising it in his own way, my own destiny as a painter opened up before me."

1859- Goes to Paris in May. Meets Troyon, who gives him friendly advice. Studies at the Academie. Suisse, where he meets Pissarro, and spends his evenings at the Brasserie des Martyrs.

1860- April, Monet paints landscapes at Champigny-sur-Marne, Autum. Leaves for military service in Algeria.

1862- Discharged from the army early in the year, Monet returns to Le Havre and lives at home. During the summer he works at Sainte-Adresse with Boudin and makes acquaintance of Jongkind.

Frederic Bazille

1863- April, During the Easter holidays Monet and Bazille go down to Chailly-en-Biere in Fontainebleau Forest and paint in the open air.

1864- Spring. Paints at Chailly with Bazille, Renoir and Sisley. Meets Courbet in Paris. Spends the summer and autumn at the Honfleur, where Bazille joins him for a few weeks.

Alfred Sisley

1865- Shares Bazille's Paris studio, 5, Rue de Furstenberg. Exhibits two seascapes at the Salon. Spends the summer with Bazille at Chailly, where he paints his "Dejeuner sur j'herbe." Renoir and Sisley work nearby at Marlotte.

Pierre Auguste Renoir

1866- Views of Paris. Zola praises his portrait of Camille, "Woman in a Green Dress." exhibited at the Salon. Lives and works at Ville-d'Avray ("Women in the Garden"), then at Le Harvre (Terrace near Le Havre") then at Honfleur.

Madame Camille Monet

1867- Virtually penniless, Monet lives with his aunt, Madame Lecadre, at Sainte-Adresses, while in Paris Camille gives birth to a son, Jean Monet. Returns to Paris in the autumn and stays with Bazille, 1, Rue Visconti.

1869- Settles in June at Saint-Michel, near Bougival. Renoir is in the neighborhood and they often work together. Each paints three versions of "La Grenouillere."

1870- Monet and Camille Doncieux are married on June 26th and spend the summer at Trouville. Outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War on July 18. In September Monet takes refuge in London where, through Caubigny, he meets the dealer Paul Durand-Reul.

           (Bazille killed in action at Beaune-la-Rolande (November 28).

Camille Pissarro

1871- Pissarro joins him in London and together they visit the museums. Makes a trip to Holland (Zaandam). Discovers Japanese prints and buys some. Returns to France by way of Antwerp. In December he settles at Argenteuil.

1872-Spring at Le Harve ("Impression, Sunrise"). Second trip to Holland in the Summer.

Gustave Caillebotte

1872- At Argenteuil he becomes friendly with the amateur painter Gustave Caillebotte. Fits up a studio on his boat, from which he paints the banks of the Seine.

Edouard Manet

1874- Monet, Renoir and Manet work together at Argenteuil. Manet gives him financial assistance. April 15 - May 15. First Group Exhibition at Nadar's, 35 Boulevard des Capucines.

1875- Dire financial straits and illness of Camille. March 24. Auction sale of works by Monet, Sisley, Renoir and Berthe Morisot at the Hotel Drouot.

Berthe Morisot

1876- Meets the collector Victor Chocquet. Summer stay with the financier and collector Ernest Hoschede and his wife at the Chateau de Montgeron (Seine-et-Oise), where he paints a decoration entitled "Turkeys." Winter. In Paris, begins his "Gare Saint-Lazare" series. April, Second Group Exhibition at Durand-Ruel's, II, Rue Le Peletier.

Hoschedes at Montgeron. Winter in Paris. April, Third Group Exhibition at 6 Rue Le Peletier.

1878- Leaves Argenteuil and rents a house at VetheuilHoschede's business ventures collapse and he is ruined; is taken in by Monet.

1879- September. Death of Camille. Winter. Paints views of the ice on the Seine. April, Fourth Group Exhibition at 28, Avenue de I'Opera.

1880- June. One man show (18 pictures) in the offices of the review "La Vie Moderne, 7, Boulevard des Italiens.

1881 Works at Vetheuil and Fecamp. In December, settles at Poissy, living with Madame Hoschede and her children. April. Sixth Group Exhibition at 35, Bouulevard des Capucines (Monet abstains).

1882- Works on the Channel coast at Varengeville, Dieppe and Pourville. March. Seventh Group Exhibition at 251, Rue Saint-Honore.

1883- January and February in Le Havre and Etretat. One-man show in March at Durand-Ruel's (56 items). Settles at Giverny in May, renting a house which he later buys. (1890). Trip to the Riviera in December with Renoir; they pay a visit to Cezanne at L'Estaque. (April 30, Death of Edouard Manet)

Paul Cezanne

1884- From January 17 to April 14, revisits the Riviera, alone this time, working first at Bordighera, then at Menton. August at Etretat on the Channel coast with his family.

Paul Seurat

1885- Exhibits at the Galerie Georges Petit, Quarrels with Durand-Ruel. Works at Etretat from October to December.

1886- Brief trip to Holland in April. September at Belle-off the coast of Brittany, where he meets Gustave Geoffroy. November with Octave Mirbeau on the island of Noirmoutier, off the coast of Vendee department. May 15 - June 15. Eight and last Group Exhibition at 1, Rue Laffitte, with the participation of Seurat and Signac at the insistence of Pissarro. Van Gogh arrives in Paris

Vincent van Gogh

Paul Signac

1888- January - April. Works at Antibes on the Riviera. Trip to London in July-September at Etretat painting the cliffs and fishing-boats on the beach. His Mediterranean paints are warmly praised by Mallarme.

Stephen Mallarme - Poet

1890- Sprint at Fresselines in the Creuse department. June Monet-Rodin Exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit. Death of Vincent van Gogh at Auvers-sur-Oise.

Auguste Rodin

1891- More "Poplars" and "Haystacks." Exhibition in May at Durand-Ruel's. Trip to London in December. Death of Seurat.

Madame Alice Hoschede

1892- Works at Rouen in February and March, painting the cathedral. Exhibition at Durand-Ruel's in early March. Monet and Madame Hoschede are married in the summer.

1893- Works on the "Cathedrals," first at Olen in February and March, then at Giverny, from memory, for the rest of the year.

1895- January. Trip to Norway, staying at Sandviken, near Osio. May. Exhibits 50 work at Durand-Ruel's.
Death of Berthe Morisot.

1896- February-March. Works at Varengeville and Pourville on the Channel coast, painting the cliffs.

1898- June. Large exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit. Death of Mallarme.

1899- Summer. Paints water lilies in the pond in his garden. Autuman. Visit to London, begins a series of views of the Thames. Death of Sisley.

1900- February. Another trip to London, where he is visited by Clemenceau and Geffroy. Returns to Giverny in April, works at Vetheuil during the summer. November 22-December 15. Exhibition at Durand-Ruel's. Paris Worlds Fair with a large exhibition of French art.

1901- February-April. In London working on his Thames series.

1902- Visit to Brittany in February and March.

Paul Gauguin

1903- Finished his Thames series at Giverny from memory. Buys an Automobile. (Death of Gauguin and Pissarro.)

1904- May 9-June 4. Exhibits 37 views of the Thames at Durand-Ruel's. Summer paints his water-garden at Giverny and "Water Lilies."

1906- Works all year on his "Water Lillie's." (Death of Cezanne.)

1908- Illness and eye trouble. From September to December, first visit to Venice, accompanied by his wife. There, recovering his health and good spirits, he paints with renewed enthusiasm.

1909- May 6-June 5, Exhibition of 48 "Water Lilies" at Durand-Ruel's. A great success. Second trip to Venice in the Summer.

1910- Begins a new series of "Water Lilies."

1911- Death of Madame Monet (May 19). From now on Monet seldom leaves the solitude of Giverny where, despite failing eyesight, he works on unremittingly, painting his garden and water lilies.

1912- May 28-June 8. Exhibits 29 views of Venice at Bernheim-Jeune's.

1914- Death of Jean Monet (February 10, whose widow, Blanche Horchede, henceforth keeps house for Monet.

1916- Begins his large decorative panels of "water Lilies," commissioned by Clemenceau for the State.

1917- October. Last visit to the Channel coast: (Death of Degas.) 1919- (Death of Renoir.)

1921- January 21-February 2. Retrospective Monet Exhibition at Durand-Ruel's. September. Brief visit to Brittany.

Paul Durand-Ruel

1922- Suffering from a double cataract. (Death of Durand-Ruel.)

1923- An operation partially restores his sight and he is able to put the last touches on the decorative panels of "Water Lilies." These were installed after his death in the oval rooms especially designed for them in the Musee de I'Orangerie in Paris.

1926- Death of Monet at Giverny, December 5, aged 86.

Musee de I'Orangerie

Water Lilies