Click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture.

Claude Monet
  1840-1926

1. Claude Monet was born in Paris, France on Nov. 14, 1840.

2. When Monet was only 15, he held an art show that interested the painter Eugène Boudin. Boudin convinced Monet to take his supplies outdoors to paint. Monet continued painting outdoors throughout his life.

3. In Paris,  Monet met many other young artists.  By 1870, Monet and his friends started painting together to learn from each other. They liked to experiment with light and color.

4. In 1874, Monet and his friends decided to show their paintings. Some art experts did not like their paintings and made fun of them.  They called Monet and his friends "Impressionists," using a word  from one of Monet's landscape paintings,  Impression: Sunrise.

5. Monet liked to paint the same scene at different times of the day and year to see how the light and season changed his scene.  He painted the Rouen Cathedral at least 20 different times!

6. In 1883 Monet and his wife moved to Giverny, France where Monet created the gardens that inspired his paintings of water lilies.

7. Monet did not become famous or earn much money until he was over 50 years old. Then his paintings began to sell for higher prices. In 1916 the French government bought eight of Monet's paintings of water lilies.

8. As Money got older, he could not see very well.  However, Monet continued to paint until his death on December 5, 1926.