HUMA PROJECT

1. Claude Monet
Critiqued by Makenzy Varner

2. About the Artist:
• Oscar Claude Monet was more
commonly known as Claude
Monet.
• Monet was a French painter
known for being the founder of
impressionism and a key.
forerunner in modernism.
• He was born in 1840 on November
14th in Paris, France.
• Monet died of lung cancer at the
age of 86 in 1926 on December 5th
in Giverny, France.

3. • Monet attended a school of arts and was known for his charcoal
caricatures.
• Monet’s mom was supportive of his dreams to become an artists
however, his father wanted him to focus on the family business.
When Monet’s mother died, he left school and moved in with
his aunt to continue art.
• Monet was drafted into the military for Algeria (a territory of
France at the time). His father said he would pay for his son's
discharge if he gave up on art, however Monet refused. He
contracted typhoid 1 year into his service and his aunt paid for
his discharge and enrolled him in art school.
• At the start of his career, his art was tuned down at exhibits. He
then became depressed and attempted suicide by jumping off a
bridge however he survived the ordeal.
• He later met other struggling artists who were also rejected.
They in turn created their own exhibit and called themselves
The Anonymous Society of Painters.
Facts About Claude Monet:

4. • Monet has an estimated 2,500
works consisting of paintings,
pastels and drawings, however
that number is believed to be
higher.
• Monet “painted nature as he
perceived it” and some of his
first works were of his garden.
• Although Monet had various
works of art, he was most
notable for his water lily series.
• Monet’s water lily series
consists of 48 paintings.
• Majority of his paintings were
done by oil paints on canvas.
Works of Monet:

5. Water Lilies:
• Painted in 1907, this work was
originally sketched in his
garden. Monet then took this
painting along with many others
to rework them to the finished
product seen today.
• Monet presented this painting
along with 47 others to his art
dealer Durand-Ruel at his
exhibit in 1909.
• Monet’s early work were
painted in pale, cool tones.

6. The Japanese Footbridge at Giverny:
• Painted in 1922
• At this point in Monet’s life, he began to
lose is his sight due to cataracts, and this
is what he later viewed as his garden.
• Monet’s later works were painted not as
clearly and with darker colors, mixing
warms and cool tones, unlike his
previous work.
• Paintings such as this went unnoticed and
underappreciated until they were
rediscovered.
• The paintings were found by young,
aspiring abstract painters in the 1950s.

7. The Windmill on The Onbekende Gracht, Amsterdam:
• One of Monet’s early work, it was
painted in 1874 at the age of 34.
• The windmill in the painting was
demolished two years later in
1876 and moved to another part in
Amsterdam.
• Monet’s use of yellow, blue, and
red colors in the painting may
reference the dyes originally
extracted in the mill. The colors
are seen seeping into the canal.

8. Interpretation of his work:
• Monet has been my favorite artist for as long as
I can remember. I have always felt a connected
specifically to his water lily series and how the
paintings bring a sense of tranquility.
• Monet began gardening as a way of always
having a subject to paint while indoors. To
calm his nerves, Monet painted his garden. In
turn Monet’s paintings evoke a feeling of peace
and calming to the viewers.
• Monet’s use of pale, cool tones throughout his
work is evident in paintings such as The
Woman with a Parasol and Wild Poppies, near
Argenteuil.
• Sadly, his work became more chaotic due to his
lost of sight.

9. Judgement of his work:
• My interpretation of Monet’s work
would be his attention to detail,
although being an impressionist painter.
He seemed to experience many years of
struggle, and with that he became a
forerunner in his field.
• Although his paintings were originally
rejected, he continued to pursue the
style he felt connected with and gave
him a sense of accomplishment.
• Monet was successful as an artist, as he
remained true to himself. His paintings
to this day are well recognized and
appreciated.

10. Works Cited:
https://www.cmonetgallery.com/frequently_asked_question
s.aspx#:~:text=Q%3A%20How%20many%20paintings%20did,
surely%20been%20lost%20over%20time.
https://www.claudemonetgallery.org/biography.html
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/88542/11-impressionistic-
facts-about-claude-monet