Claude Monet

Claude Monet was a French artist who pioneered French Impressionist painting.

Monet was born in Paris in 1840, and as a teenager became acquiainted with the French painter Eugene Boudin, who taught the young artist how to paint outdoors effectively. Monet's mother died in 1857, and in 1861, Monet joined the First Regiment of African Light Cavalry in Algeria. After only two years of service, Monet returned to Paris and attended art school. After fathering an illegitimate child in 1867, and finding himself impoverished, Monet tried to kill himself by jumping into the Seine River. Monet survived the attempt, but ironically always professed a deep love of water for the rest of his life, going so far as to say that he wanted to be buried on a buoy.

Monet fled to London after the outbreak of hostilities in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, and then moved to Holland the following year. Many of his paintings reflect sites in these locales. In 1874, the first major exhibit of painters who would come to be known as the Impressionists began, and Monet's painting, Impression, Sunrise, inspired the name.

After his wife Camille died in 1879, Monet began traveling and then living in Giverny, in Normandy, where he planted a garden that he painted for the rest of his life. Monet died in 1926.

• 1840: Born: November 14 in Paris, France

• 1858: Claude Monet meets Eugène Boudin who encourages him to paint out of doors

• 1864: Monet stays in Honfleur with Boudin, Bazille and Jongkind

• 1865-1866: Monet started meeting other painters who were interested in Impressionism

• 1867: Birth of his first son Jean Monet while in Sainte-Adresse

• 1870: Moves to London

• 1878: The Monet family moves in with the Hoschedes family

• 1879: Camille Monet, Claude's wife, dies

• 1890: Buys a farm at Giverny

• 1892: Mr. Hoschede dies. Monet marries Alice Hoschede

• 1926: Monet dies December 5 at the age of 86

• 1981: Monet's house in Giverny is opened as a museum

• • This page was created by Betsy P, a Part Time Guide in the Mahalo Greenhouse (see the original), and curated by Lelah.

• If you'd like to help us create the best spam free search results on the Internet, apply to be a Part Time Guide!</em>