Claude MoneL

Claude Monet
Impressionist
Magician of Color
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Oscar-Claude Monet was born in Paris in 1840.
He lived with his parents and older brother in a
small apartment near the Seine.
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Although his family called him Oscar,
he was to become famous as
Claude Monet.
His family did not have a lot of money.
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They moved to the seaport town of
Le Havre in Normandy
to work in the family grocery business.
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The grocery store sold supplies to sailors and shipping
companies. Monet probably saw a lot of very interesting
people coming into the store.
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Monet loved the busy seaport and the outdoors.
He liked to draw landscapes and the boats.
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During school, he liked to draw caricatures,
sometimes of his teachers.
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When Monet was 17, his mother died.
That same year he left school.
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When Monet was 17, his mother died.
That same year he left school.
His aunt was a painter and looked after him,
encouraging him to take drawing lessons.
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Monet kept making his caricatures and put them on
display in the local picture framer’s shop window.
Passers by could buy them for a couple of francs.
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Monet said later that he was filled with pride
when he saw how people pressed their noses
to the window to see his latest displays
and argue how good the likenesses were.
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The landscape artist Boudin also put his work
in that shop window and noticed Monet’s.
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The landscape artist Boudin also put his work
in that shop window and noticed Monet’s.
He encouraged Monet to start
painting with oil paints.
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The landscape artist Boudin also put his work
in that shop window and noticed Monet’s.
He encouraged Monet to start
painting with oil paints.
He also told him not to paint in a stuffy studio,
but to go paint outdoors.
The people in La Havre thought Boudin as a
bit of a fool for painting that way.
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Monet went to Paris to
study art seriously.
His aunt helped pay
for it.
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Monet went to Paris to
study art seriously.
His aunt helped pay
for it.
His father wanted him
to have “proper”
lessons.
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Monet’s fellow students
at art school reported
that he always wore
elegant clothes.
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Monet’s fellow students
at art school reported
that he always wore
elegant clothes.
This was always the
case, even when he had
no money.
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In 1861, he was
drafted into the
French army
and left for Algeria,
North Africa.
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In 1861, he was
drafted into the
French army
and left for Algeria,
North Africa.
After a year, he became
ill and was sent home.
His aunt took care of
him.
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Monet’s family worried that his painting was
leading him nowhere.
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Monet’s family worried that his painting was
leading him nowhere.
He agreed to become a
“professional artist”
and went back to Paris
to work for a commercial artist.
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Everyone in Paris in 1860 shared ideas in cafes.
This is the famous Guerbois Cafe many of the
famous painters frequented.
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Monet made friends with
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and
Frederic Bazille.
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Monet made friends with
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and
Frederic Bazille.
He showed them how much fun it was to
paint outdoors.
Monet and his friends often painted together
in the countryside.
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They were into using
quick brushstrokes,
capturing
and
color and light,
against the
rules of depicting reality in art.
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“Gradua!y my eyes were opened
and I understood nature.”
Claude Monet
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Monet’s painting you just saw was selected to be shown
in a Paris salon. The salon was like a big art gallery and
lots of people went to view the paintings.
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Monet and his
painter friends
traveled around the
countryside
to the nearby forests
in Fontainebleau
to paint.
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“I am going into the country, which is
so lovely now that I almost like it
better in winter than in summer.”
Claude Monet
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The Bad News
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The Bad News
Monet’s father cut off his allowance because he
was not studying at Paris’s official art school.
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The Bad News
Monet’s father cut off his allowance because he
was not studying at Paris’s official art school.
His success at the Salon had been brief,
all of his other artwork was rejected.
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The Bad News
Monet’s father cut off his allowance because he
was not studying at Paris’s official art school.
His success at the Salon had been brief,
all of his other artwork was rejected.
Monet had also met a girl he loved,
Camille Doncieux, an artist model, and his
family objected to her.
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Monet often paints Camille.
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Monet and Camille
have a son, Jean,
and now he has two
muses to paint.
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Camille and Jean.
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Monet and Camille were very poor.
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Monet and Camille were very poor.
At times, they could not afford to eat.
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Monet and Camille were very poor.
At times, they could not afford to eat.
He regularly had to borrow money
from friends and acquaintances.
His painter friend, Auguste Renoir, lived nearby
and provided the young family with food.
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When Monet
received a major
commission
from his dealer,
his family was
able to have a
hearty lunch,
like he painted
here.
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Monet married Camille
against his father’s wishes.
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Monet married Camille
against his father’s wishes.
War broke out between France and Prussia and
Monet left his wife and child for London to
avoid having to join the army and fight.
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London in 1870 was one of the world’s largest and
busiest cities. It had the first underground train and
electric lamps in the streets.
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Meanwhile, back in Paris.....
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Meanwhile, back in Paris.....
France lost the war while Paris was under siege.
Then a civil war broke out against the new
French republic.
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Meanwhile, back in Paris.....
France lost the war while Paris was under siege.
Then a civil war broke out against the new
French republic.
Paris was devastated and rubble filled the streets.
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With all the hunger, disease, and damage in Paris,
art was not that important.
People who were buying art now wanted the
traditional style, not the new ways of painting
like Monet and his friends.
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Monet and his family move to Argenteuil,
a town on the Seine River in France.
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Monet and his family move to Argenteuil,
a town on the Seine River in France.
Monet concentrated on painting boats
and the
effects of light
on the water.
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Monet made a floating studio by adding a roof
to a boat. He would drift down the river or row
until he found something he wanted to paint.
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Monet and his artist friends decided to have
their own independent art exhibit.
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Monet and his artist friends decided to have
their own independent art exhibit.
Most people came to laugh.
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Monet exhibited this painting called
“Impression, Sunrise” and then everyone
started referring to his work as “Impressionist.”
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In Monet’s time, railroads were changing
society. Monet was fascinated by the Gare
Saint-Lazare and made many paintings of it.
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Monet’s second son, Michel, was born and the
family had to move to a smaller house.
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Monet’s second son, Michel, was born and the
family had to move to a smaller house.
In fact, they rented a small house with a friends
Ernest and Alice Hoschede and their six
children.
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Monet’s second son, Michel, was born and the
family had to move to a smaller house.
In fact, they rented a small house with a friends
Ernest and Alice Hoschede and their six
children.
Camille became ill and died.
Monet had stopped painting to take care of her
while she was ill.
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Monet decides to marry Alice since her
husband had died. They move to the French
countryside with the 8 children.
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Monet at Argenteuil.
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A painting of Monet painting near his house.
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At 40, Monet’s art
finally receives
recognition.
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At 40, Monet’s art
finally receives
recognition.
This is his self
portrait.
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He and his family move further down the Seine
to rent a house in Giverny.
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Monet likes to paint the wheatstacks that the
farmers make after the harvest to store grain
for the winter.
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Monet likes to paint the wheatstacks that the
farmers make after the harvest to store grain
for the winter.
Sometimes the colors change before he finishes
a canvas. So he works a few minutes on each
canvas in his series of the same subject.
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The wheatstacks.
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Monet saw the wheatstacks
like they were inside
an “envelope” of light and air.
He painted over 25 paintings
showing the constant change.
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Monet painted many seaside scenes.
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Monet painted many seaside scenes.
On the Atlantic coast he was bothered by wind
and freezing temperatures. He fastened his
easel to the ground with ropes and pegs so it
would not fall over.
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Once when he was painting by the water’s edge,
he was so engrossed in his work that he did not
see the huge wave which hurled him against the
cliffs and carried his items out to sea.
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Once when he was painting by the water’s edge,
he was so engrossed in his work that he did not
see the huge wave which hurled him against the
cliffs and carried his items out to sea.
Monet came close to drowning and when he
finally got out of the water, his beard and jacket
were covered in paint from his palette and his
painting destroyed.
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The sea.
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Paris was busy preparing for the Exposition Universal
and a great deal of building was going on.
What famous landmark is this being built?
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Over 25 million visitors to the Exposition
witnessed the first marvels of electricity.
They also got to see Monet’s works in the art
section along with other Impressionists.
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Monet’s work is sought after in France and
gaining popularity in America.
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Monet’s work is sought after in France and
gaining popularity in America.
The Monet family finally has the means to buy
a house and enjoy life.
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Monet’s work is sought after in France and
gaining popularity in America.
The Monet family finally has the means to buy
a house and enjoy life.
It was a happy time at Giverny.
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Giverny had beautiful gardens because Monet
loved flowers. Flowers gave bright color to his
paintings. His greatest love was for roses.
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Giverny had beautiful gardens because Monet
loved flowers. Flowers gave bright color to his
paintings. His greatest love was for roses.
Monet liked to paint Alice’s daughters in the
gardens and river.
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Giverny gardens.
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Monet traveled along the Atlantic coast and to
the Mediterranean, to Norway, Spain, London
and Venice. Alice often accompanied him.
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Monet and Alice in a famous piazza.
Where is this?
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VENICE
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LONDON
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SPAIN
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HOLLAND
NORWAY
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Monet painted the church in a French city of
Rouen from a clothing shop opposite it.
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Monet painted the church in a French city of
Rouen from a clothing shop opposite it.
As usual, he did a series to capture the
changing light.
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The cathedral.
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Soon after their return from Venice, Alice fell
ill and died. Three years later his son Jean died.
Some of his artist friends were also dead and
his eyesight was failing.
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Soon after their return from Venice, Alice fell
ill and died. Three years later his son Jean died.
Some of his artist friends were also dead and
his eyesight was failing.
In addition, World War II had begun.
141

Soon after their return from Venice, Alice fell
ill and died. Three years later his son Jean died.
Some of his artist friends were also dead and
his eyesight was failing.
In addition, World War II had begun.
Monet rarely left Giverny.
141

Monet built a water garden for Giverny.
The neighboring farmers were concerned when
Monet was laying out his lily pond.
142

Monet built a water garden for Giverny.
The neighboring farmers were concerned when
Monet was laying out his lily pond.
They thought the plants in the pond might
poison their animals who might drink from the
stream that flowed through it. Their wives
thought the water would’t be good for washing
their laundry.
142

Monet built a water garden for Giverny.
The neighboring farmers were concerned when
Monet was laying out his lily pond.
They thought the plants in the pond might
poison their animals who might drink from the
stream that flowed through it. Their wives
thought the water would’t be good for washing
their laundry.
None of the farmer’s fears came true.
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The water lilies.
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“...then suddenly it dawned
on me how wonderful my
pond was, and I reached
for my palette.”
Claude Monet
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Monet had waterproof equipment he left out in the
garden to paint. He sat with his easel and a large
umbrella on a high stool on the banks of his lily pond.
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The weeping willow tree.
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Monet not only purchased expensive water
lilies from faraway lands to plant in his lily
pond; he also had a Japanese wooden bridge
built over it.
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The Japanese bridge.
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This is a Japanese bridge from Japanese artist
Hokusai.
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In 1914, the French Prime Minister asks Monet
to paint some water lilies as a gift for France.
Monet could barely see, but eventually painted
the massive paintings that are displayed in the
Orangerie in Paris.
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Monet has several eye operations to save his
sight and is given special glasses.
176

Monet has several eye operations to save his
sight and is given special glasses.
He dies at his beloved Giverny in 1926
at age 86. Only days before, he had been
delighted by the delivery of more Japanese lilies.
176

Monet has several eye operations to save his
sight and is given special glasses.
He dies at his beloved Giverny in 1926
at age 86. Only days before, he had been
delighted by the delivery of more Japanese lilies.
Today, his house and garden at Giverny
are a museum.
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