Like many artists of his time, Claude Monet lived a chaotic and beautiful life, and his paintings reflect this. Therefore, at we want to share with you the most fascinating curiosities of Claude Monet.
This painter always worked stubbornly, pursuing his own artistic objectives: first, being attracted by the rhythmic beauty of the tall trees and, later, rigorously studying the modifications in color. But If there is something unalterable in his life and work, it is passion. Something that you can verify by reading the curious facts about Monet that follow below.
10 Curiosities about Claude Monet that you should know
There are numerous representations of Claude Monet: self-portraits, works of friends and photographic portraits that have established the artist’s features at different moments in his life. But we need more: to know his secrets, to discover his torments, to see what Claude Monet’s curiosities hide…
1. His childhood had nothing to do with art
Claude Oscar Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in the city of love, one of the curiosities of Paris. Nevertheless, His childhood impressions and memories are linked to Havrewhere his family settled in the mid-1840s.
Curiously, the environment in which Claude Monet grew up was not linked to art: his father owned a grocery store and he did not listen to his son when he told him that he wanted to be an artist.
Claude Monet only learned about art thanks to his aunt’s advicewho painted as a hobby.
2. Claude Monet was a successful caricaturist
Among the curiosities of Claude Monet, we know that this artist has a whole past to reveal. Did you know that before painting beautiful landscapes, he made caricatures?
The young Monet was known for his cartoonish depictions. In fact, critics liked his caricatures more than his large-format canvases.
After a meeting with Eugene Boudin, who advised him not to waste time doing caricature, and instead focus on landscape paintings, Claude Monet’s life changed forever…
3. Claude Monet’s favorite place to paint
monet was obsessed with cliffs, especially those located on the spectacular Alabaster Coast. Monet often visited Étretat, which inspired several of his landscapes; Its recurring motif is a cliff that jutted into the sea.
4. A cry for revolution
Claude Monet’s fun facts are truly fascinating. And one of them takes place in 1874, when he, along with other of the great masters of impressionism, They decide to break the rules that the academies had imposed on them for years.
Before the manifestation of the impressionists, No group had exhibited outside a room! The Impressionists were the pioneers when it came to breaking with traditions and Claude Monet, as always, was at the forefront.
The first exhibition of the Impressionists opened on April 15, 1874 at the Boulevard des Capucines. 30 artists presented 160 works, Monet sent 9. So, among the curiosities of Claude Monet, we can also count his own voice and soul of a revolutionary.
5. Camille, Monet’s great love
Camille Doncieux was 18 years old when she met Monet. This young artist was captivated by her from the first moment he saw her..
He then asked her to be the model for one of his first famous paintings: The picnic, which would be exhibited in one of the salons in Paris. Later, she was one of the people who painted the most Monet in his life.
Claude Monet married Camille in 1870 in Paris, but their marriage did not last long. Camille’s health continually deteriorated. After her death, Monet was devastated, and his last act of love was to paint her on his deathbed when she was only 32 years old. There are tragic curiosities in the life of Claude Monet that did not let him be happy.
6. Impressionism owes its name to Monet
The curiosities of Claude Monet and Impressionism are closely linked. We know that Monet was one of the great exponents of the impressionist movement, but Did you know that thanks to him the name “Impressionism” was given?
Thanks to Monet’s seascape of 1874, Sunrise print, that was shown at the first exhibition of the Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, Impressionism is named after it.
This exhibition was attended by a famous art critic named Louis Leroy who, upon seeing Monet’s painting, He was mocked by the unfinished «impressions» of this. He did not suspect that he would give his name to one of the great movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.
7. Monet’s suicide attempt
Some psychological descriptions of Claude Monet portray him as a hermit of a man: «A short gentleman with a straw hat and a unstable and restless person«.
Monet’s abrupt mood swings, his continuous dissatisfaction with himself, his spontaneous decisions, tempestuous emotions and cold meticulousness, They turned him into an artist with very complex emotional problems.
So much so that in 1868 He threw himself into the Seine with the intention of taking his life; Luckily, she immediately regretted it. However, throughout his life he was plagued by melancholy. Claude Monet’s life is not only full of curiosities, but also tragedies.
8. He was a refugee
In 1870, when the devastating Franco-Prussian War broke out, Monet and his family escaped from Paris to live in London. It was a success. After Monet left, the city was besieged and other artists died in the war with the fall of the revolutionary Paris Commune.
9. The friendship of Monet and Manet
Manet and Monet knew each other’s works long before they were introduced and, although at first Manet was very cautious in his attitude towards Monet’s artistic experimentation, the leader of the group Batignolle soon He became interested in him and began to follow the development of his work with great attention..
As for Monet, he did not imitate Manet as much as he did. was imbued with his spirit of search. They became great friends and shared good and bad reviews about their works. Each one was nourished by the artistic knowledge of the other until death.
10. Monet’s destroyed paintings
To close with our list of curious facts about Claude Monet, we must tell you that he destroyed part of his works. He smashed at least 500 of his paintings. In 1908, an exhibition of Lily pads He had to take a picture of himself after he broke it into 15 different parts.
To this we must add that when he married his second wife, Alice Hoschedé, she asked him in rare fits of jealousy to destroy portraits and paintings he had of Camille, to which he agreed.
We have reached the end of our curiosities about the life and work of Claude Monet. Tell us. Do you know other curious facts about Claude Monet? And if you want to know more about the world of art, we recommend reading some curiosities of Van Goghyou will surely love it.