Oscar-Claude Monet was born in France on November 14th, 1840. He was a founder of French Impressionist painting, aiming to capture mostly landscapes. This movement’s philosophy was to express the painter’s perceptions through nature, almost entirely through creating paintings of “plein-air” landscapes. His parents had not wanted him to become an artist, rather to join their family’s grocery business.
His first impressionist exhibition occurred in 1874, when he met with many similar style artists in Paris, France. his painting, Impression, Sunrise, completed in 1872, gave the impressionist artist group in France their name. Monet was always very focused on lighting of a scene when he painted. He would not paint anything unless the lighting and angle were perfect.
From 1883 on, he lived in Giverny, and began to produce paintings of ponds, including one of his most famous, Water Lillies, which was started in 1899. His water lilies paintings turned into a series, which he worked on for over 10 years. Some of the final water lillies he painted now reside in galleries in France.
Although he began to go blind, Monet painted until the end of his life. He died on December 5th 1926, but still remains a very famous and influential impressionist painter. Now his paintings are in art galleries all over the world.
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