This document provides biographical information about Claude Monet, the famous French impressionist painter. It discusses his life and career, including key events and works. It also describes Monet's home and gardens in Giverny, France, which he lived in for over 40 years and where he created many of his famous water lily paintings. The document contains high quality images of Monet's artworks and homes that provide visual context to supplement the written information.

1. 1886 Self-Portrait
CLAUDE MONET
(1840-1926)
Impressionist Painter 19 th Century
April Bundridge
Welcome to Claude Monet’s
http://giverny.org/monet/welcome.htm
Site Editor: Ariane Cauderlier

2. • Des Moines Art Center
http://www.desmoinesartcenter.org/
• Japanese Woodblock Print Ukiyo-e Style
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ukiy/hd_ukiy.htm
• Renaissance Architecture in Italy
http://www.italian-architecture.info/HIST.htm
Welcome to Claude Monet’s caught my attention because of its unique format. The home page includes
links to other pages of information with a summary and picture of what the link leads to. The font is easy
to read and the plain white background prevents the viewer from being overwhelmed and allows an
exceptional view of the art. The images are high quality, and all the information is easily accessed through
the available links.
Before the project, I didn’t know a lot about Monet except that he was an impressionist artist and I loved a
few of his pieces that I had seen. Learning about what impressionism really is was interesting, in that I
never noticed the pieces didn’t have defining lines. I have a print of Nympheas and saw Water Lilies at the
Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery in Kansas City, MO.
Nympheas (1916-1919) Water Lilies (1915-1926)

3.  1840 - Birth of Claude Oscar Monet on November 14th in Paris.
 1859 - Monet comes to Paris and enters the Swiss Academy.
 1863 - Monet discovers Manet's painting and paints "en plein air" in the Fontainebleau
forest.
 1865 - Monet's paintings are submitted for the first time to the official Salon. Camille
Doncieux his lady friend and Bazille pose for Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe (the Picnic).
 1874 - Monet exhibits "Impression : sunrise" at the first Impressionist exhibition in the
studio of Nadar.
 1892 - Monet paints the Rouen Cathedrals series.
 1900 - Monet paints several views of the Japanese bridge. He takes several trips to London
and paints views of the Thames.
 1916-1926 - Claude Monet works on twelve large canvas, The Water Lilies. Following the
signing of the Armistice, Monet offers to donate them to France. Theses paintings will be
installed in an architectural space designed specifically for them at the museum of the
Orangerie in Paris.
 1923 - Monet is nearly blind. He has an operation for the cataract in one eye. His sight
improved.
 1926 - In February Monet is still painting. But he suffers from lung cancer. He dies on
December 5th. He is buried in a simple ceremony at Giverny. His friend Georges Clémenceau
attends the ceremony.
http://www.intermonet.com/biograph/autobigb.htm - This link includes an interesting autobiography from Monet to a journalist in 1900.

4. In 1905, answering a question about his colors, he wrote :
"As for the colors I use, what's so interesting about that ? I don't
think one could paint better or more brightly with another palette.
The most important thing is to know how to use the colors. Their
choice is a matter of habit. In short, I use white lead, cadmium
yellow, vermilion, madder, cobalt blue, chrome green. That's all."
Impressionist art is based on the use of color, which has to "draw"
the motive without resorting to line. Pure black is rarely used by the
impressionist painters. Monet obtained an appearance of black by
combining several colors : blues, greens and reds. It was so
important that Monet eliminate black that it was not even included in
his funeral.

5. Claude Monet, Studio Corner (1861) Claude Monet, Red Boats in Argenteuil (1875)
From 1860, Monet used only a palette
of pure light colors.
Monet used dark colors until 1860.

6. In 1908, aged 68, Monet was affected by
cataract in both eyes, and he began to loose
sight. The first signs of this cataract can be
found in the paintings he made in Venice in
1908.
Cataract is a progressive opacity of the
Canale Grande and Santa Maria della Salute (1908)
crystalline lens that filters the colors. As
cataract develops, whites become yellow, greens become yellow-green and
reds, oranges. Blues and purples are replaced by reds and yellows.
Gradually his paintings became invaded by reds and yellows. Blues
vanished, and details faded.

7. The effects of the
cataract on Monet
can be observed from
some paintings
depicting the same
motif, for instance
The Japanese Bridge
made in 1923 and The
Waterlily Pond made
in 1897.
The Waterlily Pond (1897) The Japanese Bridge (1923)
Claude Monet, The House seen from the Roses Garden (1922-1924)

8. Hiroshige Ando, Sudden Shower over O-Hashi
This print from
Monet's collection
was interpreted by
Van Gogh
who made a copy
in his own way.
Monet at Giverny in His Dining Room
Monet collected over 231 Japanese prints The structure
and the colors
during his life and displayed them in his of this print
home. Like many other artists, Monet inspired Monet
considered Japanese culture as very artistic, for a canvas of
the Grainstack
shaped by the refined aesthetic tastes of its series.
people. The entire collection was donated to
the Institut des Beaux-Arts by his son Michel
Monet. Hokusai Katsushika, Mount Fuji

9. House of the Cider-Press Clos Normand Garden Water Garden in Autumn
The Japanese Bridge Water Lilies in the Pond Japanese Inspired Water Garden
http://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/fotoaero.htm - This link shows an aerial view of Monet’s gardens. Pictures Provided By: Ariane Cauderlier

10. • Claude Monet lived in his home at Giverny for forty-three years, from 1883
to 1926. During this very long time, he laid out the house to his own
tastes, adapting it to the needs of his family and professional life. The house
is was enlarged to 40 meters long per 5 meters deep only. Monet chose all
the colors for everything inside and outside the house.
• At the other end of the house, Monet designed a large kitchen, suitable to
prepare the meals of a ten people family that entertained a lot. Over the
kitchen, Monet's four step-daughters had their bedrooms, while his two
sons and his two step-sons slept in the attic.
• The vibrant color of the dining room enhances the blues of the dishes on
display in the buffets.
• The walls of the kitchen are covered with tiles of Rouen. The coolness of the
blue contrasts with the warm glow of the extended collection of coppers.
• Claude and his wife Alice didn't share the same bedroom, as was usual in the
middle upper class, but there was a connection through the bathrooms. It is
one of the few rooms that have a window on the street side, that is to say
to the north. One can see how narrow the house is. From her bedroom, Alice
could keep an eye on the children on the other side of the landing.

11. Monet’s Home Yellow Dining Room Blue Kitchen
Monet’s First Studio Monet’s Bedroom Alice’s Bedroom*
Pictures Provided By: Ariane Cauderlier * Alice was Monet’s second wife.

12. • Monet’s paintings are located in Museums in Europe, America,
Asia and Oceania.
• There are continually exhibits of Monet’s work, the last of
which ran from September 2010- January 2011 in Paris.
• Admirers of Monet can visit his Giverny home in France.
• Books have been published about Monet’s Garden, Life and
Work, along with children’s books about Monet.

13. 1886 Self-Portrait
CLAUDE MONET
(1840-1926)
Impressionist Painter 19 th Century
April Bundridge
Welcome to Claude Monet’s
http://giverny.org/monet/welcome.htm
Site Editor: Ariane Cauderlier

14. Instructor Comments:
Honestly, one of the best papers/presentations I’ve ever had, April. I loved it! Can I
post it in Doc Sharing as a GREAT example in my other classes/sections?
I loved that you showed his home. I want to travel to see that someday. It’s on my
bucket list. EXCELLENT!! If I could give you more than 25 points, I would!
Grade: 25/25