Claude Monet

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Monet is perhaps most famous for his painting of water lilies and the Japanese bridge from his garden at Giverny but there’s so much more to his work than that!

Monet, born in Le Havre in 1840, was christened Oscar-Claude by his parents but later became known as just Claude.

Monet spent his childhood and youth in Le Havre, northern France, where he found his first art teacher, Eugène Boudin in around 1858 who was very much a non-conformist painter.  He encouraged Monet to paint ‘en plein air’ (outdoors) which developed Monet’s skill in capturing the brilliance of colour and the contrasts of light and shade.