When it was first exhibited at the ' Salon des Refusées' of 1874, Monet's vigorous brushwork was seen by the artistic establishment as sketchy and uncontrolled. Monet's painting 'Impression Sunrise', which lent its name to the Impressionist movement, is a view of the harbour in Le Havre. Monet would go on to focus almost exclusively on landscapes, to the extent where he built his own at Giverny, while Renoir would concentrate on figure painting and portraiture. Each artist was learning from the other, becoming more aware of their strengths and weaknesses. The river in Monet's painting has greater vitality than Renoir's, while the figures in Renoir's painting have more life and character than Monet's. Even so, you can still see the distinguishing characteristics of each artist's work that point to their future interests. Both their paintings of 'La Grenouillère' have the same composition and preoccupation with the effects of light and color on rippling water. They also shared their ideas about painting and at first glance their work of this period seems almost indistinguishable. He felt that La Grenouillère met all his requirements as it attracted people from all classes and accommodated his passion for painting reflections on water.Īt this time Monet and Renoir were on the breadline, sharing both provisions and paint on their journey to what would later be called 'Impressionism'. Monet was despondent at his lack of success in the Salon exhibitions and was desperate to find a subject that had mass-appeal. The Frog Pond), a leisure resort on the River Seine, popular for boating, bathing and its floating restaurant. In the summer of ‘69, Monet and Renoir painted side by side at 'La Grenouillère' (trans. Nevertheless, it gives us an indication of what is to come in his bold use of color and expressive brushwork for the flowers and foliage around 'The Terrace'. Monet owned a copy this print which, to this day, still hangs in his house in Giverny.Īt this point in time, Monet's painting style is still in its early stages of development. One obvious source for its inspiration may be the 'Turban-shell Hall of the Five-Hundred-Rakan Temple' from the suite of prints '36 Views of Mount Fuji' by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Renoir actually referred to this work as 'the Japanese painting'. These emphasise the pattern of the composition, a homage to the 'Ukiyo-e' genre of Japanese prints. In this picture the influence of Manet is quite visible in its flatly painted planes of sky, sea and terrace. In the formative years of Impressionism many of the artists both socialized and worked together sharing their ideas about art. Although by today's standards this a conservative image of the bourgeoisie at rest, it introduces radical Impressionist ideas about light, color, 'alla prima' painting and the influence of Japanese woodblock prints. The 'Terrace at Sainte-Adresse' is an early work that portrays Monet's father and aunt sitting in wicker chairs on her garden terrace. He worked tirelessly, unwilling to compromise his vision, and by the end of his life he had achieved both fame and fortune as the foremost painter of the French Impressionists. However, like most good artists, the accumulation of wealth was always secondary to his artistic ambition. In 1862, Monet entered the studio of Charles Gleyre where he met and worked with other leading artists of the Impressionist group such as Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet and Alfred Sisley.Įstranged from his family, Monet endured many years of poverty before his paintings began to sell. His father viewed this choice as an act of defiance and cut him off from any financial support. His father wanted him to attend the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts, but Monet preferred the Académie Suisse, a progressive independent art school that was popular with contemporary artists such as Camille Pissarro. In 1859, Monet left for Paris to study art. This was an activity he grew to love and pursued throughout his career, working outside in all weathers to capture the changing moods of the landscape. He showed a natural talent for drawing as a boy which was encouraged by his mother Louise and his aunt, Sophie Lecadre, but less so by his father who envisaged him following in his own footsteps.Įugène Boudin, a local artist who shared the same picture framer as the young Monet, took an interest in his development and introduced him to 'plein-air' painting. He was born in Paris in 1840 but at the age of 5, when his father Adolphe took over the family business, he moved to the town of Le Havre on the Normandy coast. Claude Monet was a co-founder and the most celebrated artist of the French Impressionist movement.
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