Marcus Chen
French painter Claude Monet is regarded as a founder of Impressionism and a key figure in the Impressionist movement that transformed French painting in the second half of the nineteenth century. Monet's work was influenced by Eugène Boudin, who introduced him to the practice of painting in the open air, and Dutch landscape and marine artist Johan Jongkind. Monet's work was also influenced by Japanese prints, whose decorative qualities and flatness inspired his use of colour and form.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First inspiration to paint outdoors | Eugène Boudin |
| Inspired to study the effects of natural light | Eugène Boudin |
| Inspired to paint en plein air | Johan Jongkind |
| Inspired by | Japanese woodblock prints |
| Inspired to paint domestic scenes featuring his family and garden | Middle-class life |
| Inspired to capture nature more accurately | Barbizon painters |
| Inspired to reject European conventions governing composition, colour, and perspective | Barbizon painters |
| Inspired to use asymmetrical arrangements of forms | Japanese woodblock prints |
| Inspired to emphasise two-dimensional surfaces | Japanese woodblock prints |
| Inspired to eliminate linear perspective and abandon three-dimensional modelling | Japanese woodblock prints |
| Inspired to use unmediated colours | Japanese woodblock prints |
| Inspired to add a range of tones to shadows | Japanese woodblock prints |
| Inspired to prepare canvases with light-coloured primers | Japanese woodblock prints |
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What You'll Learn
The influence of Japanese prints and woodblocks
Claude Monet was a key figure in the Impressionist movement, which transformed French painting in the second half of the nineteenth century. Monet initiated, led, and advocated for the Impressionist style. He consistently depicted the landscape and leisure activities of Paris and its surroundings, as well as the Normandy coast.
Monet's work was influenced by Japanese woodblock prints and paintings. Before 1872, Monet discovered Japanese prints, and their decorative qualities and flatness influenced the development of modern painting in France. Monet's work began to reflect the asymmetrical arrangements of forms, emphasising their two-dimensional surfaces by eliminating linear perspective and abandoning three-dimensional modelling. He brought brightness to his paintings by using unmediated colours and adding a range of tones to his shadows. Monet prepared his canvases with light-coloured primers, instead of the dark grounds used in traditional landscape paintings.
Monet's interest in Japanese art is also reflected in his garden at Giverny, which featured a pond, flowers, and a Japanese bridge. This garden was a significant source of inspiration for Monet's later works, including his Water Lilies series.
Monet's work was also influenced by his time in Normandy as a child, where he first met Eugène Boudin, who encouraged him to paint outdoors and study the effects of natural light. Monet's mature Impressionist style was greatly influenced by this approach to landscape painting.
Monet's work, particularly in his later years, reflected his sensitivity to the decorative qualities of colour and form. He applied paint in smaller strokes, building up broad fields of colour and exploring the possibilities of a decorative paint surface. These effects represented a remarkable advance towards abstraction and modern painting.
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The Barbizon painters
The Barbizon School, named after the village of Barbizon, was a mid-19th-century French school of painting and part of a larger European movement toward naturalism in art. The school was founded by Théodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet, who lived in Barbizon from 1849. Other artists associated with the school include Henri Harpignies, Albert Charpin, François-Louis Français, and Émile van Marcke. Charles-François Daubigny, Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de La Peña, Jules Dupré, Charles Jacque, and Constant Troyon were also among the group's most notable members.
The Barbizon School made a significant contribution to the establishment of Realism in French landscape painting. They attracted a large following of landscape and animal painters, some of whom lived in Barbizon, while others visited infrequently. Each Barbizon painter had their own style and specific interests. For example, Rousseau's vision was melancholy, focusing on vast landscapes and looming trees, while Dupré's close-range, detailed scenes were infused with foreboding. Millet, the only major painter of the group for whom pure landscape was unimportant, created monumental paintings of peasants that celebrated the nobility of human life in harmony with nature.
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Monet's contemporaries: Pissarro, Renoir, Manet, Sisley, and Bazille
Impressionist painter Claude Monet was inspired by several artists during his career, including his contemporaries, Pissarro, Renoir, Manet, Sisley, and Bazille.
Monet first met Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Frédéric Bazille in 1862 at the Paris studio of Swiss teacher Charles Gleyre. Monet, Renoir, and Bazille became close friends and travelled to Honfleur together, where they painted several "studies" of the harbour and the mouth of the Seine. Monet and Renoir also lived together and survived mainly on potatoes they had grown themselves. Bazille eventually became Monet's closest friend.
Monet also met Alfred Sisley at Gleyre's studio. Sisley, like Monet, Renoir, and Bazille, was influenced by his contemporaries, but he developed a unique style that set him apart. Sisley's work is characterised by its serenity and tranquility, and he is celebrated for his innovative use of colour and light.
Monet met Camille Pissarro in 1859 at the Académie Suisse in Paris. Pissarro was one of Monet's slightly older contemporaries, and Monet was inspired by his style and subject matter.
Édouard Manet was another of Monet's contemporaries, and the two artists influenced each other's work. Manet's rebellious art inspired Monet, and the two painters had a friendly rivalry.
Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille were all pioneers of the Impressionist movement, and Monet's work with these artists helped to shape the development of Impressionism.
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Monet's early life and influences
Oscar-Claude Monet, born on November 14, 1840, in Paris, France, is known for founding the French Impressionist art movement. He was the second son of Claude-Adolphe and Louise-Justine Aubrée Monet, both second-generation Parisians. In 1845, when Monet was five years old, his family moved to Le Havre in Normandy. Monet's mother supported his artistic ambitions, but his father wanted him to pursue a career in the family grocery business.
Monet's early artistic endeavours included pencil sketches of sailing ships and caricatures, the latter of which he successfully sold when he was just 15 years old. Monet's aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre, was an amateur painter, and it was perhaps at her suggestion that he began to study drawing with a local artist. However, Monet's life as a painter truly began when he was befriended by Eugène Boudin, who introduced him to the uncommon practice of painting in the open air. This experience set the direction for Monet's artistic career, as he would go on to concentrate on visible phenomena and the transformation of perception into pigment.
In 1859, Monet moved to Paris to study at the avant-garde Académie Suisse, where he met fellow artist Camille Pissarro. The following year, Monet was obliged to serve in the military and was sent to Algiers. The North African environment stimulated Monet and influenced his artistic and personal outlook. After completing his military service, Monet returned to Le Havre, where he studied under the Dutch landscape and marine artist Johan Jongkind.
Monet then returned once more to Paris, where he attended the studio of Swiss artist Charles Gleyre. There, he met and worked alongside other future Impressionists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Frédéric Bazille, and Alfred Sisley. During the second half of the 1860s, Monet painted in a style reminiscent of Edouard Manet, and in 1865, he began to develop the characteristic broken brushstrokes that would become a hallmark of Impressionist style. Monet also discovered Japanese prints around this time, which strongly influenced the development of modern painting in France.
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Monet's later years and the evolution of his style
Claude Monet, the "Father of Impressionism", lived to the age of 86, painting until his death in 1926. In his later years, Monet's work became increasingly abstract, with broader brush strokes, darker tones, and a pronounced shift from blue-green to red-yellow.
Monet's evolution towards abstraction can be traced back to the 1890s, when he began to work in series. During this decade, he painted his famous series of haystacks (1890-1891) and Rouen Cathedral (1892-1894). However, it was in the 20th century that Monet's work took a more radical turn. After experiencing personal losses, including the death of his wife Alice in 1911 and his eldest son in 1914, Monet returned to painting at the age of 74 with renewed vigour and a new style.
Monet's later works are characterised by expansive brush strokes, surprising colour choices, and minimal detail. He began to apply paint in smaller strokes, building up broad fields of colour and exploring the decorative qualities of the paint surface. This shift towards abstraction was also influenced by Monet's deteriorating eyesight, which affected his perception of colour. He was diagnosed with nuclear cataracts in both eyes in 1912, causing him to see colours with less intensity and resulting in a shift towards "muddier" yellow and purple tones in his paintings.
Despite his failing eyesight, Monet remained a prolific painter until the end of his life. He continued to work on his water lily series, which occupied him for the last 20 years of his life and included dozens of canvases creating a panorama of water, lilies, and sky inspired by his garden in Giverny. Monet's fame and popularity soared in the second half of the 20th century, and he became one of the world's most famous painters, inspiring a new generation of artists.
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Frequently asked questions
Monet's aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre, was an amateur painter, and perhaps influenced Monet's decision to pursue art.
Monet was inspired by Eugène Boudin, who introduced him to painting en plein air. He was also influenced by Dutch landscape and marine artist Johan Jongkind, and Japanese woodblock prints.
Monet is known for his series of paintings of haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, and water lilies in his garden in Giverny. Other famous works include 'Impression, Sunrise' (1872), 'The Beach at Sainte-Adresse', and 'On the Bank of the Seine'.
