The End of My Journey

December 5, 1926, was a very tragic day. It happened to be the day I died from lung cancer. After 86 years of breathing and living the end finally caught up to me and I was buried in the Giverny church cemetery. Before my death I was blind, but I had gone through an operation from the cataract in one eye and my sight was improved where I began gaining some of my vision back. I was relieved to know that I could see once again after 16 long years of having trouble with my eyesight. When I was alive I had asked that my death was not to be a major event, I wanted the ceremony to be plain and simple. I only wanted about 50 of the closest people in my life, such as my family and a couple of friends. My life had been pretty miserable as I had tried to commit suicide once before. I just could not pull myself to do it. I was just too scared although my whole life had been filled with death of either my loving family or the death of some of my closest friends. Eventually my home, garden and water lily pond was given to my dear son Michel. He was my only heir to the French Academy of Fine Arts in 1966. In my house I remembered that I had collected a bunch of Japanese woodcut prints. It was kind of a hobby of mines. Since I died my house has been a major tour site all over the world for Giverny.

My Hardships

I have been a hard worker throughout my entire life. In the beginning of my career, people did not want to buy my art. As a young man, my mother passed away. It really was a tragedy. At first, I tried to grab the attention of people by being a local artist but as I grew older, I went to school and got the right training to becoming a great artist. In 1878, life became really hard for me. I had Camille pregnant with an unexpected child in our hands. My family was very displeased with me. They wanted to disown me and so they did. I really did not mean for all this to happen. What was even worse was that no one wanted to pay me for my paintings shown in the International Maritime Exhibition at La Havre. During this time, I was in a financial crisis. My debts were so high that I was incapable of paying for them. I did not know what else I could do. I knew that if I could not do anything to pay for these debts, my creditors will manage to find something that will pay for them. Furthermore, my creditors thought that it would be okay to take away my canvases as a replacement for the money to pay off the debts. I was heartbroken. But in the end things did get a lot better thanks to Mrs. Gaudibert. After moving to Hoshede, my wife died, leaving me with two children. In my later years, I eventually became blind but I still tried to paint even though I knew that my sight was getting worse.

Introducing my Arts!

I had begun my series of art works in 1890. At this time, I had started my Field of Poppies, Poplars, and Haystacks series. Ever since I was a little child, I had recognized the landscape as an extra challenge or skill added to my life as a painter. While I was at Giverny, I had thought to myself, why not build a water lily pond. By 1891, I built a water lily pond in my Giverny Garden. I have painted numerous amounts of paintings based off of this pond. I concentrated on the light, the color, and the space of the pond. As I paint, I become fascinated with the vision that water creates. I try to recreate that texture into my paintings along with the reflections it makes. One of my more famous paintings was the "Water Lilies". In 1899, I started what I called the twenty-seven-year cycle of Water Landcapes. When I started I began painting in the Savoy Hotel in London. Later, I started painting from memory.  Another one of My famous painting was called the  "Red Boats at Argenteuil". This was simply a painting focusing on the blue strokes of the water and the reflection from above. In my "Spring Trees by the Lake", that was a painting that best described the definition of impressionism. This best describes impressionism because the many leaves caused an illusion and it created that feeling where the leaves are coming out. In my last years, I spent my time dedicated to the Grandes Decorations. This was a mural that was made to make myself feel as if I was in my garden. Overall, in my years of being an artist I have created hundreds of artworks and I am happy for doing what I do best.

Impressionism

Impressionism is an art movement developed in France during  the 19^th century. This movement has been based off of my work. After all I am one of the founders of this movement.  This movement had all started in 1874 when  artists such as myself came together. We were known as the Anonymous Society of Painters. We had organized an exhibition displaying our arts, thus creating the impressionist movement. The movement’s name came  to be after I painted the Impression, Sunrise. Crtic Louis Leroy claimed that this painting was unfinished and that it was an “impression”.  In my painting, I tried to demonstrate that as an independent artist, I use many different techniques. I paint with short strokes, that don’t fully show as a complete form.  All the colors on my painting are unblended. What I emphasize most in my art is light whether it is a reflection or a shadow. I also use bright colors so that I catch the attention  to any human eye. The image of uptown and countryside leisure was most popular amongst the impressionnists. What I liked to do was to focus on modernizing the scenery and environment by including the enhancement on industrialization such as newly built railroads or factories. Impressionists had also painted new forms of leisure such as concerts, dances, cafes, and dramatic entertainment. Although, the impressionist movement had later come to an end when some of the last exhibitions were displayed in 1886. This had led to the beginning of a new art stage, the avante-garden art.

I Am Claude Monet

Hello there, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Claude Oscar Monet and I am an impressionist. Nature inspires me and I am very fond of it. I love the outdoors. I could paint all day if I could. I was born on September 14, 1840 at Paris, France to Claude and Louise Monet as the second child. When I was five years old, my family moved to a small town called La Havre.

I spent most of my childhood at La Havre. People liked me for my caricatures of well-known people. While I was there, I had become good friends with an artist known as Eugene Boudin. He had influenced me to paint outdoors and use oil paints and pastels. During this time my mother had passed away, leaving me no choice but to leave secondary school and live with my aunt.

My first completed painting is called the View from Rouelles. After this, I went off to Paris to enter the Swiss Academy. While I was there I had met two wonderful wonderful artists named Camille Pissarro and Gustave Courbet.

I stayed in Hofleur with my fellow artists, Boudin, Bazelle, Jondkind. Just my luck, I had met my very first lover. Her name was Camille Doncieux. I didn't know it at first but she had become some of the main subjects in my work.

One day when I was at the St-Simeon Farm I had met my very first patron, Mr. Gaudibert. I had submitted my work, the "La Femme En Vert". I felt ecstatic from all the positive feedback I got from the critics. I had also achieved some recognition for my work.

I have befriended other artists such as Edouard Manet. After discovering Manet's painting, he inspired me to make a painting of my own. I called it "en plein air", painted in the Fontainebleau forest. We became really close friends after having long conversations with our close circle of friends at the Cafe des Batignolles. We discussed about art with Paul Cezanne and Emile Zola.

I had my first born son named Jean, with Camille. During this time, I realized that my vision wasn't great as it was compared to what it was before. I was very troubled and frustrated at the time. My family had disowned me because of my connections with Camille. They didn't tolerate the fact that I had gotten her pregnant. None of my paintings shown at the International Maritime Exhibition at La Havre were sold whatsoever. Furthermore, my debts were way over the top and my creditors had to take my canvases just to pay it off. I was extremely depressed and so deprived that I attempted to kill myself.

My hardships had gotten better with the support of my friends and Camille. What helped the most was Mr. Gaudibert. Being the fine gentleman he is, he purchased a life-size portrait of himself. This alone has provided me enough support to pass my hard times. After this, I realize that my career as an artist has finally kicked into gear.

On June 28th in the summer of 1870, I finally married Camille Doncieux. Soon after, the Franco Prussian War had begun. Camille and I went to London for refuge. Later I returned to the village of Argenteuil to work on my paintings. I organized an Impressionism Show. This displayed the arts created by Cezanne, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, and Boudin at Nadar's Studio.

A second son had come along named Michel. My family and I moved to Wetheuil, sharing households with Ernest and Alice Hoschede. Misfortune had stuck when my wife died. I was sad for days. It was kind of Alice to take care of my children in the place of my wife. We moved to Giverny and lived there for 43 years. My life in Giverny was very peaceful. I occupied myself with gardening, enjoying nature as I painted it.