Breann Douglas

Due: June 1, 2015

Art 1020
4 period
th

5/22/15
Oscar-Claude Monet Research Paper
Oscar-Claude Monet was one of the most important painters
in art history and one of the top artists who contributed to the
Impression movement. Monet was born in Paris, France where he lived with his mother
and father. His family soon moved to Le Havre and he grew up there. He attended
elementary, middle, and high school while there and as a young boy, he would
constantly be sketching in his schoolbooks, mainly of people. In his youth, Monet met,
Eugene Boudin, a local landscape artist who inspired him to explore the natural world
more in his art. When he reached the age of 19, Monet applied to the Academie Suisse,
an art school located in Paris, France. There, he studied art, explored different
techniques of painting, and developed his style of painting. After being discharged from
the military due to health issues he returned to Paris and began studying with some of
the local artists, Charles Gleyre, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille.
Meeting these other artists helped monet unlock his true potential as an artist. They
were able to teach him about the landscape and the way the light acted on the plants
and water. In paris, he was able to meet another artist named Johann Barthold who
continued to help him further his education on the natural landscape around him.
Monet was influenced by many things throughout his life that helped him become
the artist he was known as. Monet is known for his paintings using impressionism. He

was one of the artists who helped the movement start and continues to have a big place
in the world of art. When Monet was a boy, he would constantly fill up his school books
with sketches and drawings instead of paying attention during school. His mom loved
his art and encouraged him to continue working at his skills. When his mom died, his
father urged him to go into the family business of shipping. In his childhood, Monet was
able to meet a man named Eugene Boudin. This man influenced and encouraged
Monet to explore the natural world and helped him get started on the path that would
lead him to becoming one of the world's most painters. When he was old enough to go
to college, Monet left and went to an art school in Paris, Academie Suisse. Soon after
leaving college, Monet was able to meet a group of artists who were able to help with
his painting. While in paris, he was able to practice and continue working on his painting
style. Being around so much beauty and nature while in Paris, he was able to constantly
go out and paint what he saw in the parks and ponds. Another person who helped
influence Monet was a man named Edouard Manet. He was the man who encouraged
and inspired monet to develop his own style of painting. Edouard Manet helped Monet
break away from drawing forms with straight lines and from a linear perspective. He
learned to paint what he saw in the nature and lighting. Monet went through a lot of hard
and difficult situations and trials in his life. He still struggled financially even though his
artwork was being bought and the people loved them. He asked his father for help with
the money, but his father refused. This led Monet to try to commit suicide by trying to
drown himself in the Seine River. Monet found help and soon got Louis-Joachim
Guadibert become a buyer of his work and that allowed him to continue to provide for
his family and to continue working on his paintings. His paintings had a distinctive

quality of seeming to move when you looked at them. This is due to the artists who
inspired and helped Monet develop his own style of painting which later became known
as Impressionism. Monet was influenced by a handful of people who believed in him
and his paintings.
Here is one of Monet's greatest works he made
while still alive. This is his famous painting known as
Water Lilies. I really love this painting. I love the colors
and the way the white on the lilies pop out and help give
it a three dimensional feeling. In this painting, Monet used oil paint on canvas. He would
lay layers and layers on top of each other to help it feel like it was actually moving.
Monet uses the white water lilies to emphasize a focal point in this painting. The lilies
kind of look like stars in a dark sky. The water lilies are bright and vibrant which help me
know that they are the main point of interest. The lily pads are like the patches of grey in
the world and how some things can be either good or bad. The dark and overlapping
colors around the lilies remind me of the darkness in the world and how there are
certain points where there is good. The whole piece as a whole seems to hold the
meaning of life and how things are not always what they seem. This was painted in
1899. Monet would always be painting water and ponds during this time and said that
he was not happy with how they turned out so he continued to improve and work on
them with passion. I believe that Monet meant to paint these water lilies as a way to
show us that water and nature all have different interpretations when being viewed by
different people. To me, this painting is showing us how there can be beauty in anything,
even water. The lilies show me that there can be something pure and beautiful in the

world today and it's something we will one day be able to reach. The lighting in this
painting is incredible and shows me that Monet took a long time in this painting and he
wanted to capture every detail he could with his paintbrush. I enjoy looking at the
contrast in this picture and applaud Monet on his great work on capturing the life and
beauty in nature. The movement I see in the water by the lily pads and the water lilies
helped me see that the painting has more depth and can be seen as a real image. I
really love the dark colors in this painting and I am eager to find more works by OscarClaude Monet. Now, is the work significant? Yes, i believe it is. This work is taking a lot
of different methods and applying them to make something that captures light and
movement. Is the theme significant to us as human beings? I like to think so. This
painting is showing us that good things can come from anywhere. How has your
perception of and/or preference for the work changed? It hasnt really changed at all. In
the beginning I thought this painting was beautiful and held some sort of deeper
meaning and it did.