Claude Monet
The paintings shown below were created by pupils from Lanesend Primary School in Cowes. The children learned about the artist Claud Monet and his paintings of his garden at his house in Giverny. The children have really looked at the colour and delicacy of Monet’s work and created some beautiful images of their own
Oscar Claude Monet (1840- 1926) was born on the 14th November 1840 and died on the 5th December 1926, in Paris. When he was 5, his family moved to the port of Le Havre, where he began painting.
Monet painted from a young age and when he moved to Paris in the 1860s he met fellow painters Renoir and Alfred Sisley. They created an art exhibition together and this was the start of ‘Impressionism’.
The term Impressionism is derived from his painting “Impression Soleil Levant” (which was exhibited in the 1874 Salon de Paris exhibition. Monet documented French countryside en plein air (painting outside). This was made possible due to advances in artist materials, notably oil paint being available in tubes for the first time, which allowed for portability.
Monet’s work evolved as he became interested in the changing of light and seasons. He often re painted the same landscapes, each time capturing the differing light, weather and palette of the scenery. This re capturing of a landscape and its atmosphere is shown well in Monet’s series “Haystacks” which consisted of 25 paintings.
As he got older, Monet’s eyesight faded and his later work shows that what he saw became less clear and more blurry. Many of his paintings were of his garden in Giverny, where he lived. Many included water lilies on his pond and the little bridge in his water garden. He painted mostly in oil paints, using a range of tools to create the impressionist style.
Monet died from lung cancer in 1926 and is buried in Giverny cemetery.
