Claude Monet is a famous French painter who lived through the 1840s to 1920s. He spent a lot of time near the beach when he was young, which grew his love for nature. He discovered his passion for art when he was around 10-15 years old. Monet started his career by drawing people and sailboats. Sketching slowly and carefully with pencils. His first famous art piece is called “Caricature of a Man with a Big Cigar”. Monet created it when he was 15 years old. As Monet got older, he met more artists. Monet didn’t discover or use paint until he met Eugéne Boudin. Eugéne taught Monet different tools he could use instead of pencils. Monet slowly made his way into using paint. Monet wanted to go to art school but his family would not let Monet join École des Beaux-Arts. He was pulled back and asked to join the military. Monet fought in the military in 1861 to 1862. Once he returned, he got right back to art. Meeting new artists, as well as learning new forms of art.
You may have heard of the famous painting, “Water Lily Pond”. “Water Lily Pond” is a painting by Claude Monet. It was created in 1899-1900. It’s a beautiful painting with a lot of water lilies and plants. The painting contains different shades of blue and green. But what do people find so fascinating about this painting? Some will say the amount of plants used in the painting caught their eye. Others will mention the beautiful bridge. But what is the story behind this lovely painting people love so much? It is said that the area was a marshy ground behind Monet’s home. Monet fixed up the area and built a bridge. Years later he painted it because of how beautiful it was.
Monet’s art is very different from other painters. But what makes his art so different? Monet’s art style is Impressionism. Impressionism is when you paint, you leave visible brush strokes. Most of the time, Impressionists make their paintings appear unblended. But there are many different definitions of Impressionism as each artist is different from another. Monet’s definition is to use paint colors similar to one another. For example, another famous painting of Monet’s, “Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son” contains mostly blue and green. Most of Monet’s paintings in nature consist of green and blue. Monet also used colors next to each other in the color wheel. Because when colors go well together, it brings the whole painting together.
Claude Monet was a wonderful impressionist. He made a huge mark in the art world, and created inspiration for many people.
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