French Impressionism: The Life of Claude Monet
The beautiful artworks of Napoleon III's French Empire.
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During the reign of Napoleon’s nephew, Napoleon III, we see the birth of what we’d now recognize as modern France. Perhaps the most striking example of this modernization can be seen in the era’s artwork: French Impressionism.
Here’s the life story behind one of Impressionism’s most gifted and influential painters: Claude Monet.
Painter of Modern Life
Oscar-Claude Monet was born in Paris on November 14, 1840. Little is known of his early life. But already by his teenage years, it was painfully clear that Monet was destined for artistic greatness! By the age of 15, he was a cartoonist and caricaturist. His drawings were sold at a local art shop for 20 francs each.
The teenage Monet came under the artistic influence of Eugène Boudin, who taught him a groundbreaking new technique: painting outdoors (en plein air).
Monet loved to paint outside, because it allowed him to capture the immediacy of his subject matter. He was especially interested in the optical phenomenon of natural light, as seen outdoors.
Like the Realist School of French painters, Monet sought to depict modern life on canvas. He was not interested in the idealized world of classical mythology or the Bible, but rather in the real world he was living in.
Fun in Paris
Seeking to become a professional artist, Monet traveled to Paris (then Europe’s art capital) in May of 1859. There, he eagerly immersed himself in France’s bohemian subculture. He visited the great annual art exhibition at the Salon. The young artist enjoyed himself at the vibrant bars and cafes.
Monet worked at the Swiss Academy, a famous-but-affordable studio that was open to any artist. There, Monet befriended Camille Pissaro, who would also become a leading figure in the Impressionist art movement.
But Monet wasn’t very productive in Paris. When he was conscripted for military service in 1861, Monet’s rich father refused to “pay out” of this civic obligation.
Claude was deployed to France’s overseas colony of Algeria. There, he fell ill with typhoid, prompting his family to pay for a speedy end of his military service. Promising to double down on his art career, Monet returned to Paris in November of 1862.
Challenging the Academy
Now back in Paris, the 22-year-old Monet joined the studio of Charles Gleyre. His mentor was trained in the classical style of the French Academy. Paintings were done indoors, and depicted idealized scenes from classical mythology or the Bible. But Monet vehemently disagreed with this Academic Style, which dominated France’s art establishment.
The French Academic Style was resisted by younger artists, who preferred a more “modern” style. By this, they meant a style which depicts the realities of industrial life. Upon their canvases, they sought to depict ordinary people and the rustic nostalgia of the beautiful French countryside. One such group of artists was the Barbizon School, which preferred to paint outdoors.
In Gleyre’s studio, Monet met other young artists, such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Frédéric Bazille—both of whom would also become leading Impressionists. Together with this young mavericks, Monet began to paint outdoors at Fontainebleau, just outside of Paris.
Luncheon on the Grass
Édouard Manet, the ringleader of these non-traditional artists, shocked the French Academy with his masterpiece Luncheon on the Grass. French audiences were surprised by Manet’s unfinished brushwork, as well as the depiction of nudity in a contemporary Parisian setting.
Monet, hoping to outdo the Luncheon, prepared a canvas four times larger. It was to be displayed at the Salon of 1866. The Salon was an official art exhibition, which was necessary for any French artist to become famous.
It was an ambitious project, a little too ambitious. He lost precious time, due to his recovery from a leg injury. So he frantically drew up some sketches, and a final oil study. But it was too hard to complete before the Salon’s due date. So Monet simply abandoned it.
We’ll never know how the Salon would have reacted to Monet’s Luncheon on the Grass. But today, it is a beautiful painting—and still one of the most influential in all of Western art.
A New Kind of Art
For the Salon of 1866, Monet submitted a much more traditional artwork: a portrait of his girlfriend (Camille Doncieux) in a green dress. It was a smash hit!
Right away, Monet began working on his next major painting: Women in the Garden. For the first time, the artist attempted to execute a large painting entirely in the open air. It reflected a groundbreaking innovation in art history: a new attention to optical light.
Along with Renoir, Monet painted Bathers at Le Grenouillere. It has since become an iconic masterpiece of Impressionist painting. Unlike traditional Western art, he depicted his subjects with undifferentiated blobs of paint. He didn’t bother to mix his colors, making the painting unnaturally bright. Drawing from modern color theory, Monet and the Impressionists rendered shadows in a never-before-seen way!
Franco-Prussian War
Monet married his longtime girlfriend, Camille Doncieux, on June 28, 1870. Just two weeks later, the French Empire went to war against Prussia on July 19.
An opponent of Emperor Napoleon III, Monet refused to serve in France’s military against the Prussians. Entrusting his wife and children to Boudin, he evaded the draft by fleeing to London.
While in London, Monet encountered the landscape paintings of British Romantic artists, such as Constable and Turner. He befriended an anti dealer named Paul Durand-Ruel, who would help launch Impressionism into the mainstream of Western artistic culture.
France’s ill-fated war with Prussia ended in 1871. When Monet returned, he took his family to Argenteuil, a beautiful riverbank suburb of Paris. The town was internationally famous as a popular boating resort.
High Impressionism
By the second half of the 1870s, the French Empire was in decline. Its economy fell into a recession. This harmed Durand’s ability to purchase Monet’s artworks. Even as his income dried up, the starving artist refused to express any outward signs of poverty.
Monet moved back to Paris, where he became fascinated by the city’s modern railways. Artistically, he loved to depict the visual effects of the train smoke.
By the 1880s, Monet’s fortunes turned for the better. The French economy rebounded, and the Impressionists were finally being accepted by mainstream art critics. The Salon was becoming less popular, and new artists were hosting their own private exhibitions.
Final Works
After 1883, Monet spent his finally years at his scenic villa at Giverny, located in northern France. There, Monet produced his first serial paintings, which are considered some of the finest works of Impressionist art.
Monet’s famous haystack paintings, which showed haystacks at different times of daylight, were a huge commercial and critical success. Then, he did a painting series of his poplars, tall trees that grew beside the river near his home.
He also did a series of Rouen Cathedral, which breathed life into the lifeless stone structure. When the French artist exhibited twenty of his cathedral paintings in 1895, every single one of them sold for 50,000 francs!
By this time, the 55-year-old Monet was now a famous artist in France and elsewhere. The artist made some final trips aboard to London, Spain, and Venice. He lived long enough to witness some of the world’s earliest automobiles.
Finally, by the late 1890s, Monet made his last artistic triumph: his famous paintings of water lilies. He died in 1926, at the age of 86.
Monet’s legacy on modern art is impossible to exaggerate. Through his innovative en plein air technique, the French artist pioneered a new tradition of Impressionist painting. Taking modern France as his subject matter, he took Western art away from its classical heritage in favor of depicting the realities of contemporary life.
Monet is one of my favourite painters, thank you for this summery
Thank you for this awesome look into the life and works of Monet! His work is just stunning and I really enjoyed your summary. I love how he captured light.