Biography and Art of an Artist Essay Example: Claude Monet

Oscar Claude Monet was a french painter and founder of french impressionism. Some people thought he was the the most famous painter. He produced over 2000 paintings and his exhibits  attract thousands of visitors every year. His paintings are sold for millions of pounds. But, it wasn’t always like that, the beginning was very different.

Biography

Monet's story starts in a small town in france. It was Honfleur, France mid 19th century. Claude  was born on the on the 14th  November 1840. His father was out of Adolf a  successful businessman who owned  a grocery store and his mother was singer. At such a young age young age, Claude had a passion for drawing. His father wanted him to become a wealthy businessman like him but he had other ideas. When he was just 13, he used to leave the house  and go to places that inspired him. He drew  ships, the sea, anything that he saw. He never liked school because he didn’t like to be told what to do. He used to draw funny pictures and sell them. One day at age 16 when he was painting, a local artist showed him how to properly paint and do what’s best. When he was 17, January 28th 1857, his mother got ill and died. He was in great  grief and depression. 

In 1857  he signed a seven year army  contract at age 21, but  left after two years. When he  left the army he went to go live with his aunt. His  encouraged  him to become an artist and 1862 he attended Académie Suisse and  studio. His aunt wanted him to go to to the finest high school but he went  to Sussie because it was free and full of young artist with new ideas. He enjoyed the Académie, and met his lifelong friends.

 He has been painting for four years but without much success. His father thought it was time for him to get a proper job. He barely had any money from selling his paintings.  At the time he was dating an artist model  Camille, but his aunt and father disapproved. He painted a life-size painting of her, he wanted to enter in the biggest exhibition The Salon it was the major turning point in his art career. He told the prest were so fascinated with the painting,  that he told them that it took him four days when it  actually  took five months. The money that he got still wasn’t enough to get him out of poverty.

It was the 28th of june 1870 and financial terms still haven’t approved. He decided to marry Camille and join her and her son after soon after she gave birth. July  1920 a war has been declared and Russia has  invaded  france, so  Claude and his family decided  to go to london. During his stay he heard bad news that his best friend Basil died in battle. In 1871 The war ended and after spending time in Holland they  returned to Paris.  Day after day, he painted  outside trying to capture the light. At age 34 1874, he decided he did  not want to paint for The Salon, he wanted to paint  for the public. Letting them have new ways of seeing. They wanted to revolutionize art. later on an exhibition of their own started to take shape took place on 35 Boulevard des Capucines. Paris exhibition open on the date of April 15 to May 15 1874. They had over 4000 visitors, but  they still haven’t made much money. Louis an art critic thought his art was an insult to the intelligence and taste  of the public nothing more than painting of impressionism. This is one Claude  started to call his  style of painting impressionism. His  second exhibition was in 1876 when he was 36.

After wife time

When Claude was 39, in September 1879 his wife died due to illness at age 32. He painted a picture of Camille on her deathbed. In 1880 at age 46, Claude became more determined to become a better painter. In 1883 he produced 30 paintings which were part of the 56 paintings in the  One man exhibition in paris 1883.

In 1890 he has sold more paintings than ever and there also has been an increase in finance and success. He even married Alice Hoschede in 1892 when he was 52. In 1892 there was an exhibition of the the haystack series. His goal was to show impressionist what painting and capturing light is really all about. He sold all of his paintings for 30000 to 50000 £ each

He brought a beautiful house,it had different types flowers and a pond so inspiring he can paint for years non stop. It was the start of the water lily series he focused on. In 1899 he built a second larger studio because he wanted to spend the rest of  his life drawing and painting. From the 1890s to 1900s his art became extremely popular. In 1902 a exhibition of his 39 paintings and was sold in 3 days. Sadly on May 16, 1911 his wife Alice Monet died. He was now on his own.

The next few years went bad. In 1912 he was diagnosed with nuclear contract, a visual disorder.  People thought he was going blind. He began to experience changes in his perception of color. Color was art to him, he could not give that up.

Claude Monet unfortunately died of  lung cancer on December 5th, 1826 at age 86 in France. It was the end of  his artistic journey. His story began in France and it end in France. Monet was an incredible artist who inspired many people. Now his paintings are available for all people to see. They can be found at Orangerie  in Paris. 

At last a quote to remember his creative soul. The richness I achieve comes from the source of my inspiration.