On the fifth floor of 45 rue Laffitte, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, Claude Monet was born on November 14, 1840. The residence of his family was only a few houses away from the birthplace of Louis Napoleon III, France's first president. He was the second child of second-generation Parisians Claude Adolphe Monet and Louise Justine Aubrée Monet. He was baptized as Oscar-Claude on May 20, 1841, in the nearby parish church Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, although his parents just nicknamed him Oscar, and he began signing his early works "O. Monet". Despite having received a Catholic baptism, Monet eventually rejected religion.

His family relocated to Le Havre in Normandy around 1845. His mother, a singer, encouraged Monet's ambition to pursue an artistic profession. His mother supported his decision to enroll in art school to advance his career and pushed him to pursue his dreams. His father, however, was less amenable to the notion of his son pursuing painting as a career. Monet's father, a wholesale trader, wanted him to join the family's food and ship-handling businesses, which is one of the interesting facts about Claude Monet.

When he was 11 years old, Monet joined a secondary art school, where he quickly gained notoriety for his charcoal caricatures. Before he was fifteen, he was able to purchase three chickens and a week's supply of bread by selling his artwork for up to twenty euros a piece. His initial sketching instruction was given by Jacques-François Ochard, a former Jacques-Louis David pupil. Around 1858, he met fellow artist Eugène Boudin, who encouraged him to refine his methods, taught him how to paint "en Plein air" (outdoors), and accompanied Monet on painting outings. Monet considered Boudin to be his master, to whom "he owed everything" for his success in the future.

Oscar-Claude Monet produced stunning landscapes with blooming flowers, lovely gardens, rivers, and bridges using oil paint on canvas. His use of light and shadow gave rise to a style of painting that many modern landscape painters still employ today. The traditional painting wasn't able to provide the depth of freedom of expression that Impressionism accomplished before him. However, as we'll see later, not everyone appreciated the adjustment.

Louise, Monet's mother, died while he was pursuing his art. Losing her was tough for him since she had encouraged her son's love of the arts while his father did not support his dream. He relocated from his father's house to live with his aunt as he persisted in refusing to join the family company. One of the interesting facts about Claude Monet is that without his mother's assistance, he was unable to finish art school and left before turning 17.

Monet, at 21 years old, was enlisted in the First Regiment of African Light Cavalry in 1861. Monet made Algeria his home base since it was a French-controlled region in 1861. According to French law, you can buy a discharge from the army. Monet's father offered to pay for his military discharge if he gave up his desire to become an artist. Monet declined his father's offer.

One year into his seven-year draft, Monet developed typhoid sickness. His aunt paid for his military release because she was concerned for his well-being and security. His aunt registered him in a Parisian art school when he eventually made it back to France.

While residing in Paris, Monet continued to capture the outdoors, and the critics began to notice and appreciate his work. As he worked on an eight-foot painting called "Women in the Garden" in the outside light, the critic's opinion of his art suddenly altered. Monet invested a lot of time and effort in the painting, but when the reviewers mocked it, it badly damaged his psyche and sent him into a depressive state.

Additionally, the stringent rules governing what was deemed art at the time turned the young Monet off of the French art world. He detested imitating the aesthetic of famous artists of the day, yet his work was frequently dismissed. He leaped over a bridge and into the Seine because he was so angry and unhappy about his failing career. He managed to survive the fall, but he ultimately came into a group of "outsiders" who shared his dissatisfaction with the Academie and its onerous regulations.

Monet resumed his education in Paris from 1858 to 1860, enrolling in Académie Suisse, where he first met Camille Doncieux in 1859. His lover at the time, Camille Doncieux, who was a model for his paintings gave birth to their first child, Jean, in 1867. For Jean to be accepted as a genuine person, Monet maintained a close relationship with Camille, who he claimed was his legal wife. They married in 1870, and he painted her repeatedly during his early career. Together, the couple has two kids. Camille passed away in 1879 from what historians think was uterine cancer.

Alice Hoschede, the wife of an art collector and businessman, Monet had a relationship. The family of six, including Alice's bankrupt husband, moved in with Monet. In a jealous frenzy following Camille's passing, Alice destroyed all of her correspondence and photos while Monet was still grieving the loss of his beloved wife and inspiration. She and her family were abandoned on the streets, but when her husband passed away in 1892, she went back to him and was married.

He was derided by reviewers later in life as if the rejection of his work by the French Academie as a whole wasn't enough. Although it may be difficult to imagine, Monet finished his final body of work when on the edge of going blind in his late 60s. Despite having cataracts that mostly obscured his sight, he was nevertheless able to capture the environment stunningly. It's sad that by the time he was 80, he was blind. He kept painting from memory, making sure that particular colors were on particular areas of his artist's palette.

An intriguing truth about Monet is that his hazy paintings were derided by the art world, who suggested that the Impressionist movement was the result of his vision issues rather than his artistic genius. His works and those of other notable artists were included in a landmark art exhibition that was dubbed "Exhibition of the Impressionists" by a critic. He was subtly implying that their artwork was incomplete and required further work. Ironically, the reviewer attacked Monet's art using a picture with the title Impression, Sunrise.

Being ridiculed by everyone but then taking it personally or relapsing into sadness, Monet was inspired even more to pursue his outstanding style of light effects paintings. If the term "time-lapse" may be used in art, Monet used it to describe his paintings over the following several years. With so many vivid colors, Monet elevated the level of his paintings. He saw how the light affected them in a variety of ways. He repeatedly painted a piece to catch different lighting, and since he was so good at it, he caught the interest of well-known painters from all around the world. It was also known as series painting.

His paintings attracted notice and started selling well when he maintained the Impressionist moniker. Because of his enormous success, Monet was able to hold an exhibition in the United States. In addition to capturing the many light effects throughout the day, he also painted the same picture in several weather conditions, an uncommon but well-liked technique. Haystacks and the London Parliament building are two of his most remarkable light series paintings.

Monet bought a small boat at the age of 33 and filled it with art supplies. His mobile studio was the little boat. Monet was able to perceive and depict the landscapes with a completely different lighting impact from this vantage point. Although Monet painted several structures and landscapes, his family was one of his favorite subjects. He created a ton of artwork that included his two boys Michel and Jean as well as his first wife Camille. He also painted portraits of his friend and fellow artist Édouard Manet at his boat studio. In exchange, Manet photographed Monet working in his floating studio with his wife Camille by his side.

In addition to painting landscapes, Monet was also a landscape architect. During the latter years of his life, he produced 250 oil paintings, including his well-known lily garden paintings. Given a set of requirements, Monet created the Giverny artist's garden to be vibrant with color and adept at capturing sunshine. Monet's water lily paintings are currently valued at an average of 20 million pounds sterling. One went for 18.5 million in 2007 and another sold for 40 million the following year. As the years passed, the worth of Monet's artwork keeps rising, and his reputation as the greatest Impressionist endures.