On this date in 1840, Claude Monet was born.
The man who painted "Waterlilies". Years, well decades ago I often spent hours seated on a bench, a not particularly comfy one, int the Carnegie Museum gazing at one of the estimated 250+ paintings of waterlilies he executed during his lifetime.
His parents wanted him to go into business, which seems unlikely for a schoolboy who filled his notebooks with sketches and caricatures. He was well known for his caricatures and sketches of townspeople. Monet enjoyed painting outdoors, local painter Eugene Boudin encouraged him to continue on this path.
Monet relocated to Paris, thought his works was well received financial struggles plagued him. He served in the military in 1861-62 in Algeria, but poor health cased is discharge.
In 1864 he met his future wife Camille, {The woman in green}, in 1867 their first son, Jean was born. Unfortunately Monet was in despair over his financial state and the following year Monet attempted to drown himself in the Seine.
Fortunately , he failed at his attempt. Shortly there after his fortunes began to change. Their second son,Michel, was born in 1878 after this,saddly Camille's health declined, and she died. The Ice Drift series was painted at this time.
Some time later he became enamored of Alice Hoschede, whom he married after her husband's death in 1892.
During the 1880s-90s Monet became well known for his series paintings of nature and the countryside Giverny. It was his joy to paint the outdoors, and especially the gardens he helped to create. He traveled to Rouen Cathedral and painted a series of paintings in different weather conditions, different time of day, and different lighting. absorbed in his desire to convey the time of day in each of his paintings.
After Alice died in 1911 the depression that had plagued him returned. In 1912 he developed a cataract in his right eye. Monet may have felt that he that the Cubists had replaced him, but he ontinued to have success in the art world.
During this time he was commissioned by the Orangerie des Tuileries, in Paris to paint a series of 12 Waterlily paintings. Monet chose to paint on large canvases thereby he felt he could create a "haven of peaceful meditation" much like I found gazing at the painting in the Carnegie Museum
.
Despite his advancing age, and cataract surgery, Monet continued painting, until his death. He wrote "My only merit lies in having painted directly from nature, seeking to render my impressions of the most fleeting of effects."
Monet died on December 5th 1926
Monet died on December 5, 1926, at his home in Giverny. Monet once wrote, "My only merit lies in having painted directly in front of nature, seeking to render my impressions of the most fleeting effects."
