Claude Monet
Claude Monet grew up in Le Havre on the Normandy coast. As a teenager he sold caricatures of local people, before Eugène Boudin introduced him to painting outdoors. Light on water became a recurring subject, from the harbour at Le Havre to the garden he later made at Giverny.
Biography
In 1872[8] he painted Impression, Sunrise, a view of Le Havre harbour at dawn. When the painting appeared at the first independent group exhibition in 1874, a critic used its title to mock the exhibitors. The name Impressionism[8] stuck. Monet explored changing light through series of paintings, returning to the same subject at different times of day.
He settled at Giverny in 1883[8] and bought the property in 1890. In 1893 he began creating a water garden across the road from his house. Its pond and Japanese-style bridge became subjects for paintings in which reflections increasingly took the place of a conventional horizon. The Water Lilies series occupied him from the 1890s until his death. He continued to paint other subjects, including Rouen Cathedral and the Thames in London.
Painting outdoors was central to his practice, but Monet also reworked canvases in the studio. He built a large studio at Giverny for the monumental Water Lilies panels. Cataracts impaired his sight in later life, and he underwent surgery in 1923[8], aged eighty-two. The day after the Armistice in 1918, he offered Water Lilies paintings to the French[8] state. The resulting ensemble opened at the Musée de l'Orangerie in May 1927, several months after his death.
Timeline
- 1840Born on 14 November in Paris. The family relocated to Le Havre on the Normandy coast when he was five.
- 1858Boudin introduced Monet to painting outdoors on the Normandy coast during the late 1850s.
- 1862Studied in Charles Gleyre’s studio in Paris in 1862–63, where he befriended Bazille and Renoir.
- 1874Exhibited Impression, Sunrise at the first independent group exhibition in Paris, aged 33. A hostile critic coined the term "Impressionism."
- 1879Camille Monet died on 5 September at Vetheuil, aged just 32. Monet, then 38, was left to raise their two young sons.
- 1883Settled at Giverny in Normandy, aged 42. Over the following decades he transformed the garden into an elaborate landscape with a Japanese bridge and water lily pond.
- 1891Exhibited fifteen paintings from his Haystacks series at Galerie Durand-Ruel in May.
- 1923Underwent cataract surgery at 82, after years of deteriorating vision. His friend Clemenceau urged the operation so he could complete the Water Lilies panels.
- 1926Died of lung cancer on 5 December at Giverny, aged 86. His Water Lilies panels were installed the following spring at the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris.
Notable Works
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Where to See Claude Monet
23 museums worldwide.
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87 worksMusée d'Orsay
Paris, France
Tue–Sun 09:30–18:00 (Thu until 21:45); closed Mon · €16 adults
The Musée d'Orsay in Paris concentrates on the formative decade before Impressionism had a name. Women in the Garden (1866) and Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe (1865) predate the 1874 exhibition, while The artist's garden at Giverny (1900) closes the arc at the other end.
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44 worksMetropolitan Museum of Art
New York City, United States
Sun–Tue, Thu 10:00–17:00; Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00; closed Wed · Adults $30, students $17 (pay-what-you-wish for NY residents)
The Met's 44 Monets lean on pre-Impressionist beach scenes and the first experiments with broken colour. Garden at Sainte-Adresse (1867) and La Grenouillere (1869), painted beside Renoir, show the technique arriving before the label did.
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39 worksMuseum of Fine Arts Boston
Boston, United States
Sun, Mon, Wed, Sat 10:00–17:00, Thu–Fri 10:00–22:00, closed Tuesdays · $30 adults
Boston's MFA assembled one of the earliest Monet groups in America, with 39 canvases rooted in late 19th-century Bostonian collecting. La Japonaise (1876) sits alongside Rouen Cathedral and Haystacks series paintings, giving visitors a near-complete walk through his move from figure work into serial atmosphere studies.
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92 works
Musée Marmottan Monet
Paris, France
Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, Thu 10:00–21:00, closed Mondays
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33 worksArt Institute of Chicago
Chicago, United States
Mon 11:00–17:00, Tue closed, Wed 11:00–17:00, Thu 11:00–20:00, Fri–Sun 11:00–17:00 · $32 adults
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22 works
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, United States
Mon, Thu, Sat, Sun 10:00–17:00, Fri 10:00–20:45, closed Tue–Wed
Next stop
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Claude Monet prints
Hand-finished archival prints from Claude Monet's body of work.
Poplars on the Banks of the Epte - Claude Monet
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Clifftop Walk at Pourville - Claude Monet
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Wild Poppies, near Argenteuil - Claude Monet
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![San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk - Claude Monet - Poster [HQ c971adb8bf97]](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0833/9292/1935/files/Monet-Poster-none-75560f06f036.jpg?v=1791244722&width=480)
San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk - Claude Monet
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The Boat Studio - Claude Monet
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The Garden at Vétheuil - Claude Monet
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See all Claude Monet prints →Frequently Asked Questions
Did claude monet have children?
Yes. Monet and Camille Doncieux had two sons: Jean, born in 1867[8], and Michel, born in 1878. Camille died in 1879.How did claude monet die?
Claude Monet died in 1926[8] at the age of 86.How did claude monet paint?
Monet often began paintings outdoors, observing changes in light and weather. He returned to the same motif for series such as the Haystacks and Rouen Cathedral. He also revised paintings in the studio, including canvases begun in Rouen and London.Was claude monet blind?
Cataracts seriously impaired Monet’s sight in later life. He continued painting and underwent cataract surgery in 1923[8], aged eighty-two. His deteriorating vision affected his work, but describing him simply as blind loses the changing nature of his condition.What is claude monet famous for painting?
Claude Monet is globally recognised as a painter of colour and light. He is known for painting landscapes and seas, rivers and bridges, architecture and parks, and gardens and flowers, capturing ever-changing atmospheric conditions.When did claude monet start painting?
Monet first became known locally for caricatures in the late 1850s. Boudin introduced him to painting, and in 1858[8] Monet submitted a painting to the municipal exhibition in Le Havre.Where can i see claude monet paintings?
In Paris, Musée Marmottan Monet holds Impression, Sunrise, while Musée de l’Orangerie houses the monumental Water Lilies ensemble. Other collections include Musée d’Orsay and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Check each museum’s current displays before travelling.Why did claude monet paint water lilies?
Monet painted water lilies because he was engrossed by landscapes of water and reflections. He wrote that it had become an obsession, and he wanted to reproduce what he felt.Who was claude monet inspired by?
Eugène Boudin introduced Monet to painting outdoors. Johan Barthold Jongkind also influenced his early work. Monet later worked alongside Renoir and other painters who became associated with Impressionism[8].
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Claude Monet.
- [1] museum Brooklyn Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Buffalo AKG Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum Clark Art Institute Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Städel Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] wikidata Wikidata: Q296 Used for: identifiers.
- [8] wikipedia Wikipedia: Claude Monet Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
- [9] book Linda Bolton, Art revolutions _ Impressionism Used for: biography.
- [10] book Linda Bolton, Art revolutions _ Impressionism Used for: biography.
- [11] book Linda Bolton, Art revolutions _ Impressionism Used for: biography.
- [12] museum Claude Monet: official Giverny timeline Used for: biography.
- [13] museum Musée de l’Orangerie: Monet, painting time Used for: biography.
- [14] museum Musée Marmottan Monet: Impression, soleil levant Used for: museum holdings.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-10-07. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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