One of the pioneers of Impressionism, Claude Monet is most well-known for his Water Lilies series, which continues to enrapture audiences to this day.
An artist from a young age, Monet spent his life learning about and creating art at every opportunity. His novel techniques revolutionised art for his contemporaries and those who would come afterwards.
Find out more about the top 10 most famous Monet paintings!
Camille
Also known as The Woman in a Green Dress, this painting was one of the first that Monet successfully submitted to the Salon and received praise. It followed more of the traditional rules of art that were popular at the time, especially because Impressionism hadn’t been established yet!
It depicts Camille, Monet’s then-model and future wife, dressed in an extremely stylish outfit, strutting through a nondescript, yet opulent, room. You can see that this is an early Monet work because the lighting source is not natural and not defined.
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Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant)
The Impressionists derived their name from this work combined with a dig from an art critic who didn’t like it. Instead of the fine, detailed brushwork popular at the time, it used quick, loose strokes to convey a sense of mistiness and give a more authentic and immersive experience of the natural sunlight.
The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.
Caude Monet
The Basin at Argenteuil (Le Bassin d'Argenteuil)
Conveying a sense of quiet serenity at golden hour, Monet shows his masterful use of light to portray this calming scene.
Monet would meet up with Edouard Manet here in the city of Argenteuil near the Seine River. It became a hotspot for Impressionists to come and glean inspiration with the beautiful, picturesque views and many different landscape features to observe, such as the river, the train, the suburbs, and the industries.
The Lunch (Le Déjeuner)
An exceptional peek into what life may have looked like at home, Monet depicts his wife Camilla with an unidentified guest and little Jean playing with a toy nearby.
You can get a sense of the beauty in the mundane, as the family enjoys lunch and company in a beautiful garden with intriguing and enrapturing patterns of sunlight. Although this painting was pre-Impressionism, you can see Monet was still interested in the same elements.
Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son (La Promenade)
Though Monet was certainly very famous for his landscapes and nature, he also painted people, especially his wife and son. Naturally, Monet painted them outdoors in his typical impressionist style using light, atmosphere, colour, and loose brushstrokes.
Monet was obsessed with light and shadow, as you'll see in the other pieces we mention, and this work, also known as The Stroll, depicts the artist's wife and son with dramatic lighting.
Monet regularly painted his wife Camille, his son Jean, his second wife Alice, and his stepdaughter Blanche. There are many fine examples in his works of how important his family was to him and his paintings of them are always emotionally charged.
La Gare Saint-Lazare (Gare Saint-Lazare series)
This 12-painting series depicts one of the large train stations in Paris during different conditions. This was Monet’s first attempt at painting a series with the intention of showing how different the same scene can appear with different factors at play.
He also wanted to capture the movement of the trains and their smoke.
Wheatstacks, End of Summer (Les Meules à Giverny series)
Monet's Haystack Series (which lasted from 1888 to 1891) is probably one of the finest examples of how the artist worked with light. The set of 25 paintings of stacks of wheat, barley, or oats depict rather mundane rural scenes, but the artist's exploration of natural light really shines through.
The fact that Monet painted the same banal scenes so many different times and created so many wonderful and different interpretations of the scenes made them iconic examples of the power of natural light in art and the Impressionist movement.
The series also highlights the importance of perception and subjectivity in art since Monet was able to alter the subject matter through his art to create pieces that reflected his own experience.
These types of series helped challenge the artistic establishment and many of the commonly held traditional notions of how things can be represented in art.
The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light (Rouen Cathedral series)
This Series is another fine example of how Monet used repetition and plein air to highlight the effect of light and other natural environmental factors that could completely change one’s perception of a scene.
Throughout the series, Monet used several different painting techniques to be able to capture how the cathedral's appearance changed in different lights. The series consists of over 30 paintings which were created between 1892 and 1894.
The Rouen Cathedral Series is considered to be one of the best examples of Impressionism, inspiring future Impressionist artists as well as artists in other movements such as Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Abstract Expressionism.
Everything changes, even stone.
Claude Monet
Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge (Nymphéas Series)
Monet's Water Lilies is a series of about 250 paintings spanning from 1895 to 1926 depicting the artist's own garden in Giverny, France. Some of the most famous pieces, often considered the best Monet paintings, from the series include Water Lilies, Morning; The Clouds; and many simply called Water Lilies.
The series typically focuses on nature and the way natural light affects the different scenes, particularly seen through the reflections of the water.
Many of the paintings are very large, which almost surround the viewer, especially in the collection at Musée de l’Orangerie which contains some canvases as large as 200 x 1,280 cm. The emotional expression of the pieces makes them particularly evocative when viewed in person and Monet wanted them to be exhibited as part of large-scale installations.
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The Houses of Parliament, Sunset (Houses of Parliament series)
Yet another series, Monet painted about 19 scenes of the House of Parliament with the River Thames between 1900 and 1905. He captured great examples of different lighting, times of day, and the effect of the London fog on one’s view.
In creating this series, Monet altered his painting method slightly. Instead of completing the entire painting on site, he would lay the groundwork and take notes and photos to help him finish up in the studio.
Many say that Monet's pieces were a stepping stone for other artists to utilise when creating new movements, such as Picasso's Cubism.
The Life of Claude Monet
Before we discuss his masterpieces, it’s important to know a bit about the artist. After all, every artist uses their experiences and perspectives when creating their work! Knowing what Monet was going through and thinking at the time of creation helps enhance the experience of appreciating a piece.
Oscar-Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840, and spent the first five years of his life in Paris before moving to Normandy in the north of France.
Monet's mother was a singer in Paris and supported Claude's ambitions of becoming an artist. His father, on the other hand, expected Claude to continue the family business. Their relationship would be complicated for the entirety of Monet’s life.
The young Claude Monet preferred the outdoors and would spend time outside drawing nature. Whilst at the School of the Arts at Le Havre, he earned some money by drawing caricatures of his classmates and used the cash for art lessons with Jacques-Francois Ochard.
From a young age, Monet showed great artistic talent, even earning a reputation as a dependable caricaturist at school.
Monet in Paris
When he was 16, Monet’s mother passed away. Thankfully, he would still have support for his passions from his aunt, Madame Lecadre.
After moving to Paris, he noticed that many budding artists were copying the famous paintings of the greats like Botticelli, Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and Gauguin. Monet, however, chose to capture the scenery.
At the time, many artists would paint indoors, but Monet learned to paint outdoors en plein air when he was still in Normandy, and now the artist seemingly hated both physical and stylistic confinement of any kind.
Spending time at the Louvre led Monet to meet other budding artists, including Manet. Monet also enrolled in the Académie Suisse.
In 1861, Monet was forced to join the military and serve in Algeria. His father could have paid for an exemption but refused to do so when Monet refused to give up art. While in Africa, the new landscape, colours, and lighting inspired Monet greatly. In his second year of service, he contracted typhoid fever and had to return home, wherein his aunt bought out the remainder of his military service with the condition that he complete a formal art course.
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While he would go on to continue in the arts, he would drop out of art school. Instead, he obtained tuition from the Swiss artist Charles Gleyre, who had also tutored Pierre-Auguste Renoir!
During this time, Monet tried to break into the art scene at the Salon (a difficult feat, met with lots of disappointment), started a family with his first wife Camille Doncieux, was financially cut off from his father, and found support from fellow artists.
Then, the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, and Monet and his family hid out in London and the Netherlands to avoid conscription. After the war ended, they moved back to France, and Monet continued to develop his artistic style while being a social butterfly in the art world.
Monet Pioneers Impressionism
Monet and many fellow artists believed that the criteria for acceptance into the Salon were too restrictive, which limited the boundaries for artists. They bucked the status quo and created their own society, the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers in 1873.
The society exhibited its members' works, who often were artists who'd been rejected by The Salon. Artists such as:
- Auguste Renoir
- Eugene Boudin
- Camille Pissarro
- Edgar Degas
- James Whistler
- Paul Cézanne
Others including Gauguin, Cals, Lepine, and Rouart also joined later on, but the society hardly got the press it deserved and the public was even less interested. But, the Society didn’t care much.
They continued to search for ways to be revolutionary. One such groundbreaking idea they promoted was the en plein air technique, rather than strictly studio painting.
Claude Monet had always loved being outside and his painting Impression, Sunrise (1872) was one of the first he made to show this new way of creating art. Critics hated it.
The term "impressionist" was actually used by a journalist to criticise the painting, but the artists took the term and used it to refer to themselves.
The Salon was the premiere gallery for artists to gain recognition and success. However, the problem with the Salon was that it often upheld the status quo in order to ensure patrons would keep attending shows.
Financial Motivations
In addition to his love of art, Monet had pressing issues that encouraged him to become a successful painter. He was in financial hardship, and being able to sell his paintings at high prices would relieve that burden.
Monet’s styles evolved over time. He developed his plein air techniques and sought out patrons and buyers for his art, which at the time was “Impressionist” but not nearly as abstract as his later works.
His art became very dark when his dear wife Camille became deathly ill in 1878. She died the next year, after the birth of their second child. Monet created one of his most heartbreaking paintings, Camille Monet on Her Deathbed in response.
Due to the lingering heartbreak, Monet started painting in less Impressionist ways, instead focusing on more traditional styles. While it was a sign of his depression, ultimately it worked out because he was able to find enough buyers to support his family.
In 1883, Monet and family rented a cosy abode in Giverny, made possible by the newfound financial success. Here, the gardens were tended and became an incredible source of inspiration for Monet for over 40 years. Here is where he had his water lilies and created his best post-Impressionist works.
His longtime friend, Alice Hoschedé, would become his second wife in 1892, after the death of her previous spouse.
When Monet was able to rent the house in Giverny, it was a true sign that his fortune had changed. And, his return on interest in the house is immeasurable, since it helped him create all his water lilies paintings, which led to fantastic wealth and fame.
Monet’s Legacy
In 1911, Alice passed away. In 1914, Claude and Camilla’s first child Jean (whom Monet loved dearly) also passed. In addition, he also started having trouble with cataracts, which progressively affected his vision over time and may have contributed to the distorted colours in his works from that time.
After finally getting cataract surgery in 1923, Monet’s vision may have been skewed again, but in a different way.
He destroyed some of his colour-affected artworks, unable to discern exactly what may have been wrong with them, but he was able to fix some of the others.
He continued to paint for many years before finally passing away in 1926.
His body of work is credited for inspiring many different artistic movements, including Expressionism, modern abstract art, Objective abstraction, modernism, and postmodernism.
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