Impression, Sunrise (1872)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Hazy orange sun over the port of Le Havre; shown in 1874, it gave Impressionism its name
Image: Claude Monet · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Art
Claude Monet
1840–1926 · French
Impressionism
The founding figure of Impressionism, whose Impression, Sunrise gave the movement its name. He devoted his life to painting light and atmosphere out of doors, above all in series of a single motif and in the water garden at his home in Giverny.
How to spot them
- ▸Series of one motif under changing light: haystacks, poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament
- ▸Water lilies and a Japanese footbridge at Giverny, often on huge, near-abstract canvases
- ▸Broken, visible dabs of pure colour; shimmering water, fog, steam and snow
Key works
Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son (1875)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Camille and son Jean on a windy hillside at Argenteuil, seen from below
Image: Claude Monet · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Gare Saint-Lazare (series) (1877)
Various, including the Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Steam-filled Paris railway station; his first series on a single theme
Image: Claude Monet · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Haystacks (series) (1890–1891)
Various, including the Art Institute of Chicago and Musée d'Orsay
Stacks of wheat near Giverny at different times of day and season
Image: Claude Monet · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Rouen Cathedral (series) (1892–1894)
Various, including five in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris
The Gothic façade dissolving in light at different hours
Image: Claude Monet · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Water Lilies (series) (c. 1896–1926)
Various; the vast Grandes Décorations are in the Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
About 250 canvases of his Giverny lily pond, many painted while he had cataracts
Image: Claude Monet · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Quick-fire facts
- •The critic Louis Leroy mocked Impression, Sunrise, popularising the word 'Impressionists' in 1874
- •Grew up in Le Havre, where Eugène Boudin introduced him to painting outdoors
- •Lived at Giverny, Normandy, from 1883 until his death in 1926
- •His first wife Camille Doncieux modelled for many works; he painted her on her deathbed (1879)
- •His friend, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, championed his gift of the Water Lilies panels to France after WWI
- •Also painted a series of the Houses of Parliament in London in the early 1900s
- •Suffered from cataracts in later life, affecting his colours, before surgery in 1923
Drill it — 9 cards
1 / 9new card
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Claude Monet
- The National Gallery, London — Claude Monet