Monet started art as a child

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.