Artist Monet all paintings. Beautiful and famous paintings by Claude Monet

Oscar Claude Monet is a great impressionist who painted pictures all his life. The artist is the founder and theoretician of French impressionism, which he followed throughout creative path. Monet's painting style in impressionism is considered classic. It is characterized by separate strokes of pure color, creating a richness of light during transmission air environment. In his paintings, the artist sought to convey a momentary impression of what was happening.

Childhood and youth

Claude Monet was born in Paris on February 14, 1840. When he was 5 years old, the family moved to Normandy, to Le Havre. At school, the boy did not differ in anything special, except for his ability to draw. His parents owned a grocery store, which they hoped to pass on to their son. Contrary to his father's hopes, Claude and early age was drawn to painting, drew caricatures and never thought about becoming a grocer.

Portrait of Claude Monet. Artist Auguste Renoir

At a local salon, the popular caricatures drawn by Claude were sold for 20 francs. The young man’s acquaintance with the landscape painter Eugene Boudin, a lover of plein air, also contributed to his hobby. The artist showed the aspiring painter the basic techniques of painting from life. His aunt, who took care of the young man after the death of his mother, also helped defend his right to choose a profession.

Classes with Boudin revealed to the future artist his true calling - to paint nature from life. In 1859, Claude went home to Paris. Here he works in a studio for poor artists, visiting exhibitions and galleries. The army prevented the development of talent. In 1861, Monies were called for military service into the cavalry troops and sent to Algeria.

Of the seven required years in service, he will spend two years, as he falls ill with typhus. 3 thousand francs, which his aunt paid to buy his nephew out of military service, also helped him return home. Having recovered from his illness, Monet entered the university's Faculty of Arts, but quickly became disillusioned. He doesn't like the approach to painting that prevailed there.

The beginning of creativity

The desire to learn leads him to the studio organized by Charles Gleyre. Here he meets Alfred Sisley and Frederic Basil. At the Academy he met Pissarro and. The young artists were the same age and had similar views on art. They soon became the backbone that united the Impressionists.

The portrait of Camille Doncier, created by the artist in 1866 and exhibited in the salon, made him famous. His first serious work was the painting “Breakfast on the Grass” (1865-1866), painted by him after the work of the same name by Edouard Manet. Claude's version was four times larger in size. The composition of the picture is quite simple - a group of elegant women and men is located in a clearing near the forest.

The value of the painting is in the feeling of air movement, enhanced by textured strokes. It was not included in the exhibition because the artist did not have time to finish painting the large canvas. Financially strapped, Claude had to sell the painting in order to forget about hunger and not borrow from friends. Instead, the artist exhibited “The Lady in Green” (portrait of K. Donsier).

The next two-meter canvas, “Woman in the Garden,” was painted entirely en plein air. To catch the right lighting, the artist dug a trench that allowed him to move the canvas up and down. I had to wait a long time for the right lighting, and only then take up the brush. Despite his desire to achieve perfection, the salon jury rejected the work.

Impressionism

The new direction in painting, called “impressionism,” became a revolution in painting. To feel the immediacy of what is happening and to convey it on canvas is the task that the impressionists set themselves. Claude Monet was a prominent representative and the founder of this direction. He was a plein air artist, conveying the natural, momentary beauty of the surrounding space.

In the summer of 1869, in company with Renoir, he went to the open air in Bougeville. In his new paintings, painted with large impasto strokes, he refuses mixed shades. He paints in pure color and makes many discoveries for himself regarding painting techniques, the characteristics of chiaroscuro, the influence of surrounding shades on the color, etc. This is how impressionism appeared and developed - an innovative direction in fine arts.

With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Claude Monet, trying to evade the army, goes to England. He did not support Napoleon III and was his staunch opponent. In England he meets Paul Durand-Ruel, a painting seller. They will become good friends and partners. Paul will buy from the artist most paintings from this period of his work.

The money from the sale allowed him to purchase a house in his homeland, in Argenteuil, where he lived for several happy years until 1878. During this period, the artist works fruitfully, creating his paintings, including famous work Claude Monet "Impression. Sunrise". The title of this masterpiece expresses the essence of impressionism and was used by critics to define a new direction in painting. "Sunrise" was exhibited in 1974 in Paris.

Monet devotes a lot of time to serial compositions: he depicts views of London, Rouen Cathedral, Haystacks, Poppies and other landscapes. In an impressionistic manner, it conveys unequal illumination depending on the weather, time of day and year, using a different tonality of the palette for each state. It is difficult to find words to describe the paintings of the great impressionist; they need to be felt and understood.

Life in Giverny

Having saved up some money, Monet entrusts financial affairs to E. Gosheda. The bankruptcy of a businessman forces the families to pool their capital and move to the village of Vetheuil. Here in his biography occur tragic events, associated with the death of his wife and then his son. In 1883, the Monet family moved to the village of Giverny, located on the picturesque banks of the Seine. At this time, his paintings were selling well, he accumulated a good fortune, part of which he spent on expanding his garden.

It is known that famous artist He was also a gardener who created his garden over the course of 43 years. He found satisfaction not only in growing plants and contemplating the results of his labors. IN last years During his life, Monet went out with an easel into his luxurious garden and painted a lot. A great worker and “slave of his craft,” as he called himself, tried to achieve perfection in conveying beauty surrounding nature on canvas.

During this period the artist masters new technology. Paints several paintings at the same time. In this way he tries to capture the changing lighting. A painting session on one painting could last half an hour, then he moved on to another in order to capture and convey another momentary impression. For example, a series of his paintings depicting Cape Antibes are presented in morning, afternoon, autumn, summer and spring lighting.

Personal life

The artist’s first wife was Camille Doncier, who posed for him for “Lady in Green” and other paintings. She gave birth to two sons 11 years apart. After the death of his beloved wife, who was also his constant model, the artist began a relationship with Alisa Goshede. They will officially become husband and wife after the death of her husband Ernest. Alice died in 1911, and three years later his eldest son Jean passed away.

The work of Claude Monet is among the TOP 3 most expensive painters. average price paintings - $7.799 million. The most expensive of them (“Water Lilies”, (1905) is estimated at $43 million. The works are stored in museums around the world. Russia, Great Britain and the USA are considered the major owners of the artist’s heritage.

Death

The artist lived long life, underwent two operations to remove cataracts, after which his color perception changed. He began to see ultraviolet in purple or blue color. This can be seen in his paintings painted after the operation. An example of such work is “Water Lilies”. During this period, he spends most of his time in the garden, creating on his canvases mysterious world water and plants. The famous series of his last panels is represented by various ponds with water lilies and other aquatic plants.

The artist died in Giverny on December 5, 1926 from lung cancer at the age of 86, having outlived many people dear to him. At his insistence, the farewell ceremony was simple and uncrowded. 50 people came to say goodbye to the artist. Monet was buried in the church cemetery.

The most famous paintings

• "Women in the Garden" (1866)
• "Terrace at Sainte-Adresse" (1867)
• "The Thames Below Westminster (Westminster Bridge)" (1871)
• "Impression: The Rising Sun" (1872)
• "Field of poppies near Argenteuil" (1873)
• "Boulevard des Capucines" (1873)
• "Walk to the Cliff at Pourville" (1882)
• "Lady with an Umbrella" (1886)
• "Rouen Cathedral: main entrance in the sun" (1894)
• "Water Lilies" ("Nymphaeas") (1916)

The most expensive paintings

• “Water Lilies”, (1905) – $43 million.
• “Railway Bridge at Argenteuil” (1873) - $41 million.
• "Water Lilies" (1904) - $36 million.
• "Waterloo Bridge. Cloudy" (1904) - $35 million.
• “Path to the Pond” (1900) - $32 million.
• “Water Lily Pond” (1917) - $24 million.
• "Poplars" (1891) - $22 million.
• "Houses of Parliament. Sunlight in the Fog (1904) - $20 million.
• "Parliament, Sunset" (1904) - $14 million.

Claude Monet 1840-1926 One of the founders and leading artists of the Impressionist period. Biography and paintings.

Already at the age of 16, Claude Monet decided that real art was born in the open air, rejecting classical principles. His life was rich in events - he loved and suffered, overcame misunderstandings and swam on the waves of success. He left behind a rich legacy, having tried many subjects so that at the end of his life he could endlessly display water lilies from his favorite pond on canvas.

Never before this moment has fine art seen a more subtle and courageous creator, who carefully looked at nature, which allowed him to create whole line paintings so sensual and honest in their beauty that it was a kind of revelation for subsequent generations who chose impressionism as their guiding star.

Movement to success, the road of impressionism.

Claude Monet ended up in Paris at the age of 19. In the capital, he first studied at the Suisse Academy, and then continued his education in the workshop of Charles Gleyre. It is not so important how strong the influence of this artist, popular at that time, on the technical and stylistic development young Monet, but the fact that he gathered people around him is more than remarkable - this is a fact. In the workshop, Claude Monet met Sisley, Renoir, Basile, with whom he would forge a new style in art soon.

In 1863, a huge scandal broke out in connection with the ultra-bold and frank painting “Luncheon on the Grass” by Edouard Manet. Claude, inspired by this work, decided to write his own version. “Lunch on the Grass” by Claude Monet clearly demonstrates the search for the style of the young master - the rejection of the contour, the neglect of line by modeling forms with the help of color spots, experiments in the transfer of natural light on the canvas. For the multi-figure composition, the master used only two natures - all the ladies were painted from his beloved Camilla, and the men from his friend Basil. It is noteworthy that in this work Monet depicted several characters with their backs to the viewer, thereby destroying one of the main canons classical painting— such an image was previously unacceptable.

But young Monet moved his own way, tasting colors, subjects, plasticity and composition. The work “Women in the Garden” is distinguished by the same innovation, the model of which was also the beloved Camilla, “multiplied” four times on the canvas.

Monet's early works are overwhelmingly dedicated to Camille. “Lady in the Garden”, “Woman in a Green Dress” - on all these canvases the viewer will see Camilla, and last work brought Claude fame. Subsequently, Monet would have another favorite sitter - his son Jean.

Working on style.

The 60s were marked by a difficult financial situation for Monet. There is evidence that the painter even thought about suicide. However, this desperate step Claude was saved by work - Renoir came to his estate in Bougival and his friends worked a lot on location, honing their skills, while searching for new means of expression. The main goal of their search was the moment - the artists sought to capture the moment, to capture the same landscape in different time periods, proving to the world that a single moment is not similar to the previous or subsequent one, it is unique and beautiful with its inimitable beauty.

Monet began to practice a new technique of applying colors to canvas - he did not mix colors on the palette, as artists of previous years did, preferring to apply pure colors, allowing the viewer's eye to mix the colors independently, looking at the finished work.
In 1872, Claude Monet created the legendary painting “Impression. Sunrise". Its uniqueness is not only in technology and color scheme, but also in the fact that this painting gave its name to a whole movement. From this moment on, the whole world will know that if the canvas is dominated by small strokes of local colors, there is no line, and the space is filled with light - this is impressionism, from French “impression”.
The legendary work was the start of the artist’s success; it would be followed by his best works - “Field of Poppies at Argenteuil”, “Boulevard des Capucines”, “Gare Saint-Lazare”, etc. The work brought satisfaction, although the public did not always greet the master’s paintings with enthusiasm.

The year 1879 gave Monet another reason to capture the passing moment - his beloved Camilla was dying, and with some painful attentiveness the artist painted her face, losing color.

Recognition and peace.

Having lost his beloved woman, Monet finally gains recognition - critics write laudatory reviews, the public sympathizes with his works, and financial situation improves significantly.

Monet begins to paint cycles - a series of works dedicated to the same subject, executed in different surroundings, differing in time characteristics: the artist paints a landscape in different time year or day, or weather conditions. Examples of such works are the series “Rouen Cathedral”, “Poplars on the Epte”, “Poplars”, “Houses of Parliament in London”, etc.

In 1892, Monet married for the second time and traveled a lot, enriching his gallery with delightful seascapes.

And at the end of his life, the master comes to Givarny, where he creates a garden with a pond and a bridge, considering all this natural splendor his own best work art. Drawing inspiration from his garden, the master created more than one series of paintings, his favorite of which was the one dedicated to water lilies.

The ending of Monet's life cannot be called happy - his second wife passed away, and then his son Jean, the artist was overcome by cataracts, which led to actual blindness. However, just as Beethoven, who became deaf, did not stop composing, so Monet did not throw away his brushes, continuing to paint until his death in his beloved Givarny. In December 1926, Monet died. Having finished his life, he had just begun his artistic century - his paintings became the inspiration for many artists, both those who were direct followers of impressionism, and those for whom he became Starting point, giving rise to many new stylistic “isms”.

Monet with his own eyes, both in Russia and in other countries. However, I only recently noticed his winter landscapes. There are not many of them: Monet preferred to paint the bright colors of summer - poppies, water, sailboats, blooming gardens.

4. Ice floes. Foggy morning. 1893

The temperature was above zero, so the ice had already broken up and fog appeared. White and blue colors are diluted with gray and brown.

This landscape of the Seine River is not the only one - Monet liked to paint in series, showing how the same place can be different depending on the time of day and weather.

Paintings by Claude Monet from the “Ice Floats” series. 1893 Private collections.

In one month from the end of January to the end of February 1893, Monet managed to create as many as 13 paintings of this landscape on the Seine!

5. Lavacourt. Snow and sun. 1881

The village of Lavacourt is located on the banks of the Seine, and opposite is the village of Vétheuil, in which Monet lived with his family and where his son was born and his wife is buried. It was from this coast that he depicted the landscapes of the village of Vétheuil in 150 of his paintings.

Dim Winter sun in the painting “Lavacourt” - we don’t see it, but we feel it from the yellowish-greenish tint of snow in the distant background. It seems that Monet wanted to show the approach of spring.
Photo of the village of Vétheuil (near Paris)

These places, of course, remember their famous inhabitant. Thus, on the shore of the village of Lavacourt, information boards are made in the form of easels with paintings by Monet.

6. Road to Giverny in winter. 1885

The artist lived in Giverny for 43 years. In this town there is his house-museum with the famous garden with water lilies and a Japanese bridge. Of course, he painted Giverny countless times. These are mostly blooming, summer works. However, winter here is also very picturesque.

The most famous paintings of Claude Monet

Claude Monet rejected traditional approach To landscape painting and moved away from a clear depiction of forms and linear perspective, which dominated the fine arts of that time.

Instead of copying recognized masters he learned from his friends and from nature itself, observing changes in color and light caused by changing times of day or year - Monet's style finds its followers among artists of the 21st century. However, his performance technique did not stand still, but underwent some changes over the years, which can be seen by comparing early and late Monet paintings.

"Women in the Garden" (1866)

“Women in the Garden” were painted by Monet in the suburbs of Paris called Ville d'Evreux. The only model for this painting was his wife Camille: she portrayed three of the women represented in the painting that we can see in the painting. The purpose of writing The purpose of this large-scale and elaborate painting was to show the effects of real daylight, rather than to focus on the model or the drapery of the dress.

By using flashes of light that pierce the tree foliage to soften shadows and warm up skin tones, Monet emphasizes the natural light in the landscape. In January 1867, his friend Basil purchased the work for 2.5 thousand francs to help Monet get out of large debts, which forced him to cross out about two hundred of his works so that they would not go to creditors.

"Terrace at Sainte-Adresse" (1867)

This painting is completely different from Monet's later paintings. It depicts the garden at Sainte-Adresse, with the seaport of Honfleur on the horizon. The models were Monet's relatives and friends: Monet's cousin, Jeanne-Marguerite Lecadre, stands near the fence, her father is nearby, and in the foreground, with his back to the audience, sit Monet's father Adolphe and, probably, Lecadre's second daughter, Sophie.

Claude Monet called this work " Chinese painting with flags"; Renoir referred to her as " Japanese painting with small flags,” because with its lines and very bright color palette it was reminiscent of Japanese color prints. It is also interesting because the composition of the painting does not have a central point, and the artist himself painted it, as if looking at the landscape from top to bottom. This one is bright and very sunny picture as if it is a hymn to summer itself.

"The Thames Below Westminster (Westminster Bridge)" (1871)

With this painting, Monet shows us the foggy capital of England on a spring day.

This simple, asymmetrical composition is balanced by a horizontal bridge, boats floating on the waves, and a vertical jetty in the foreground. The background depicts the Houses of Parliament, or the Palace of Westminster, shrouded in fog. The entire scene is dominated by a thick layer of fog containing purple, green, pink and gold hues, which creates a special, dense atmosphere that displays the architecture in distant, blurred forms.

"Impression: The Rising Sun" (1872)

The content of the picture shows the viewer a morning in the port of Le Havre in France. We can see the sun rising over the port, while three ships in the foreground try to attract our attention, and behind us, an unknown number of other moored ships are drowning in the haze. The overall mood of the picture is quite gloomy, which runs counter to the bright, orange sun that its rising brings new life to the port. Small, short, almost dotted strokes allowed Monet to quickly capture this plot and the very feeling that the moment is not eternal.

Associated with this painting interesting story: It was thanks to her that impressionism got its name when, two years after writing this Monet paintings presented it to the general public. This happened at the very first exhibition of the Impressionists, who then did not have any name, but were simply a group of artists who sought to acquaint the general public with their vision of art and with a new direction of painting.

However, the picture was torn to smithereens art critic Louis Leroy, calling the entire group of artists impressionists, like the title of the painting (“impression” is translated into French as "impression") The artists accepted the challenge and kept the name, which quickly lost its negative connotation.

"Field of poppies near Argenteuil" (1873)

Returning from England, Monet stopped in Argenteuil and lived there until 1878, which became a time of improvement for him. In the surrounding area, Monet found vibrant landscapes that allowed him to explore the potential of plein air painting. In this painting, the artist depicted a bright poppy field in the countryside, which is stirred by a gentle breeze. On foreground The landscape includes a mother and child, presumably Monet's wife, Camille, and their son Jean.

The painting is visually divided into two parts using a diagonal: one is filled with bright spots of poppies, and the other looks empty, as if the artist completely forgot to pay attention to it. It is the red color that sets the structure of the picture. It is curious that if it is translated into black and white color, most poppies will no longer be visible on it.

"Boulevard des Capucines" (1873)

"Boulevard des Capucines" depicts a scene of bustling Parisian life that Monet could see from the studio of his friend, photographer Felix Nadar. The artist uses short, quick strokes to “revive” people, to convey them in motion. Most likely, the painting depicts a morning or afternoon boulevard, during early spring when there is still snow on the roads.

The same critic Leroy, thanks to whom impressionism is now called exactly this and not otherwise, was again not delighted with this painting by Monet: as before, such a technique seemed to him unfinished, like a sketch, and he considered the Parisians on the canvas to be black blurs spots.

"Walk to the Cliff at Pourville" (1882)

The canvas depicts two young women in white clothes walking along a cliff in a place called Pourville - seaside resort, which is located in the south of France.

In this work, Monet demonstrates how landscape and human figure without disturbing the unity of its surface. He integrated all these elements into the painting through texture and color. The grass is painted with short, curved, sharp strokes, thanks to which it seems to tremble in the wind, and with the help of almost the same, slightly modified strokes, Monet depicted swollen in the wind women's dresses and scarves, as well as waves on the surface of the sea.

"Lady with an Umbrella" (1886)

The painting depicts Monet's first wife, Camille Doncier, along with their eldest son, Jean. The woman is holding an umbrella in her hands, and it seems as if she catches someone's gaze on her. This work is from early creativity- an example of the period when Monet focused more on conveying light and color than line and volume.

The painting also demonstrates one of the artist's themes that he has used in his paintings for many years. The umbrella as a subject appeared quite often in his work, mainly because he painted his paintings directly on the street, where most women used umbrellas to protect their skin and eyes. The umbrella, moreover, creates a contrast of light and shadow in the face and clothing of the person being portrayed, showing from which direction the real light falls.

"Rouen Cathedral: Main Entrance to the Sun" (1894)

This work is one of a whole series of paintings on the theme of Rouen Cathedral. Claude Monet painted the façade of the cathedral at different times of the day to study the different lighting effects V winter period. The canvases are mainly dominated by the bright orange and blue colors of the cathedral, with only a small blue patch of sky visible at the top of the painting. Using translucent brush strokes, the artist plays with light and the texture of the cathedral's stone surface.

To make the work progress faster, Monet deliberately settled directly opposite his main painting object. In 1895, he exhibited twelve Cathedrals at an exhibition at the Durand-Ruel gallery, where they were both criticized and praised by audiences who championed Monet's artistic innovations.

"Water Lilies" ("Nymphaeas") (1916)

“Water Lilies” is part of Monet’s large-scale series of water landscapes, which was conceived back in 1909. The artist secretly worked on dozens of canvases, creating a panorama of water, lilies and sky in his studio, inspired by his garden at Giverny.

He painted these paintings in the last thirty years of his life, mainly from memory, since he was limited in the time of flowering of lilies and could not paint too quickly due to his rapidly deteriorating eyesight. Color palette and strokes, unlike early works, became more diverse, approaching expressionistic.

Find out even more about the creativity of this wonderful artist by watching this video:

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!

Read also on our website:

show more

Claude Monet is one of the famous and popular artists in the history of world art. This painter is the founder and prominent representative of a new movement at the beginning of the 20th century - impressionism. Today everyone educated person and the lover of painting is close and understandable to Monet’s paintings, with the names of which and their brief description we have to meet.

Born in Paris in 1840, Claude Monet moved to Normandy 5 years later. Since childhood, the young man showed a passion for drawing, but chose the genre of caricature.

At the age of 17, Monet met Eugene Boudin, who taught him art landscape sketches. Before meeting him, drawing from life, seascapes Claude Monet did not consider them worthwhile and even treated them with contempt. 1859 – year of return young artist home, to Paris. There he continued to paint in the workshop of poor artists.

The turning point in the fate and work of Monet is considered to be his admission to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris. There he met O. Renoir, A. Sisley and F. Basil - talented young artists, with whom he was destined to change the history of world painting.

How did the “Impressionism” movement appear?

Claude Monet is gradually trying to change the traditional way of drawing from life, using either new lighting solutions, or changing the viewing angle and position of the artist when painting. Preferring plein air to studio work, he seeks beauty in the world around him, trying to capture the moment and his perception of what he sees.

One of the main differences between emerging impressionism is new job with shadow and color. Monet chose the coloristic content of the paintings that he sees and feels at a certain point in time. Painting shadows light, and not black, like his predecessors, he filled his canvases with inner light.

Constant poverty and need in the 70s and 80s and the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War forced him to move to England. Here Monet meets the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who buys his paintings. This made it possible to purchase a small house in Argenteuil upon returning home.

The official starting point of the “Impressionism” movement is considered to be 1874, when with a light hand one of the critics dubbed the picture “impression, impression” - impressionnisme. In 1883, Claude Monet moved with his family to Giverny, where with the money he had saved, he could already afford to buy a house with land and a garden. In the same small village he was destined to end his earthly journey in 1926.

Monet had vision problems from a young age, and in 1912 he even had the lens of one eye removed. It is believed that this illness contributed to the artist's natural talent for seeing and reflecting unusual colors and shades in nature.

Monet's popularity today cannot be overestimated: to this day he is one of the three most dear artists peace.

1. One of the most famous and early works of Claude Monet is the painting “Women in the Garden”, created in 1866. To paint it, he dug a trench in order to better choose the angle, set up the easel correctly and stand up himself. The plot of the picture is simple: four young ladies are walking through summer garden, picking flowers and having a nice conversation. One of them, the young model Camille Doncier, later became Monet’s wife.
2. 1866 was also the time when the painting “Lady with an Umbrella Turning to the Left” was painted. The subject of the image was a young girl, Monet's adopted daughter Suzanne. The artist looks at the model from bottom to top, capturing, in addition to the girl’s figure, grass and flowers close-up and a big piece of sky. One of the main characters of the picture is the wind, which controls the movement of objects, creating a feeling of energy and movement of the plot.

   

3. The painting “Water Lilies” from 1905, after its purchase by an unknown art lover, was hidden from prying eyes for more than 70 years. It depicts a pond, lilies in it and clouds reflected in the surface of the water. It is believed that the artist copied this plot from a pond in Giverny. This painting was destined to become the most expensive at London auction: it was valued at $54 million.
4. Mannport (1883) is now in New York, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The subject of this painting is the cliffs of Normandy. Monet often traveled to this country, creating more than 60 paintings about its powerful and harsh nature.
   
5. The painting "Lady with an Umbrella" (1886) depicts Monet's wife Camille Doncier. The canvas is classified as early period creativity: the lines are blurry and imprecise, the main emphasis is on the colors and feelings of the artist himself.
6. The famous painting that gave its name to the entire movement of “impressionism” - “Impression. Sunrise” rarely leaves anyone indifferent. Port of Le Havre, early morning, boats on the surface of the water, barely visible in the morning fog, gloomy and dark colors with a contrasting background bright sun– the painting was created to revolutionize the idea of ​​the technique and purpose of painting. However, the first viewers reacted coolly to the innovation and did not appreciate it hidden power and prospects.

   

7. Interesting, from the point of view of creating a plot, is the painting “Breakfast on the Grass” from 1866. The style of the canvas itself is not characteristic of Monet’s impressionistic style of painting. This is a picture of transition, of finding oneself. The ideological inspirer became Edouard Manet (do not confuse these various works art), who created a painting of the same name several years earlier. It caused a strong reaction and scandal because of the realistic depictions of naked women. Claude Monet was delighted with this painting. He decided to repeat the success of this painting and shock the audience. On this moment what we see in the picture is one of three parts of a huge canvas, which remained unfinished, although it was exhibited at the Paris Salon.
8. “Water Lilies” of 1916 is a continuation of the theme of water and water lines in Monet’s work and part of a series of water landscapes. It's interesting compositional solution: the plot seems to have been snatched from a huge, endless picture. The artist cut large central flowers to show the infinity of natural space. Thanks to bright colors And unusual composition A seemingly ordinary pond fascinates the viewer.
   
9. “Terrace at Sainte-Adresse” is one of the artist’s early creations, created in 1867. The painting depicts summer terrace with men sitting in armchairs and a girl standing at the railing with her companion. Strict lines, lack of blur and compositional solutions are not characteristic of the impressionist style.

   

10. “Field of poppies near Argenteuil” 1873. The heroes of the picture are the artist’s son and wife. They make their way through tall grass and bright red poppies. In the background, two more figures are visible, as well as a small White House in the distance.

Art critics have come to the conclusion that in the last years of his life the artist went beyond impressionism, anticipating further changes in painting and outlining prospects. Having entered the history of world painting and having gained many supporters and followers, Monet’s paintings, the names and brief descriptions of which we have read, remain not only in the memory of viewers, but also in their hearts, causing real ones and a certain longing for the passing and momentary beauty of this world.