Monet enlisted for military service and in June of 1861 he joined the First Regiment of African Light Cavalry, also known as the Chasseurs d'Afrique. He spent two of his seven year enlistment in Algeria . He was sent into the Zouaves, he landed in Algiers where he had military and horsemanship training. Monet called the military life "tiresome" but he still found time to sketch and paint, whenever Monet had free time he was drawing. He distracted his fellow soldiers by making caricatures of their seniors and of his friends. Monet was shipped home, after his aunt Marie-Jeanne involved herself and got Monet out of the army for good, but only if he agreed to complete an art course at a qualified academy.
Trying to pursue a career in art, Monet moved back to Paris with help from his family. Monet enrolled himself into the Charles Gleyre Academy(Monet stayed at the academy for about two years) . Gleyre charged only ten francs for models and the studio. This attracted a great amount of artists. Among them, Monet met three very close and influential friends: Frederic Bazille , Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. While all three painters were talented , all four of them came from very different social backgrounds. The commitment and extreme dedication to their new approach to art was what bound them all together for so long. Their new approach to art was eventually labeled impressionism.
During the time Monet was studying at Gleyre art was highly political. People thought that the only "real" way to paint art was by using the "Academic Classical" approach, meaning that every painting has a highly symbolic and story. Gleyre tried to guide Monet towards the academic approach to painting, but at the same time Monet met fellow classmate Renoir, the two became close friends and learned from each other. Both are now famous for their impressionistic views on art.
In 1865 Monet,25, met Camille Donieux, who was still in her teens. Camille was a intelligent and attractive girl with beautiful dark brown hair, who worked as a model for Monet. Monet was just a poor painter at that time. Camille became his girlfriend, mistress and model. Sadly, the couple lived in disheartening poverty. Right up to her death she modeled for him regularly, appearing frequently as a female figure in a rural landscape. Some of these canvases are among Monet's finest masterpieces. Camille and Monet were married around 1870 they were married at the town hall in Paris. Monet's Father and Aunt didn't even attend the wedding, Camille's parents did though. Monet and Camille moved shortly after their wedding to Trouville, France. Again on the edge of economic ruin, and with Camille pregnant, Monet's family were threatening to cut him off so he had to return home to Le Havre to try and make peace with his family. While Monet was away Camille gave birth to their first son, Jean. Monet also wrote letters to his friends begging them to loan him money. Monet even made an attempt at suicide by throwing himself into the Seine River.
In 1877 Camille gave birth to their second son, Michel. Soon Camille's health started to go down hill some say as a result of a malpracticed abortion, and others say she had cancer. On September 5, 1879 Camille died at the age of 32. Monet had not always treated Camille well and there were rumors of an affair with another women, Alice Hoschede, while still with Camille. Monet was was incredibly shocked by Camille's death. Claude painted her a last time on her deathbed.
During the early 1880's, after Alice's Horschede husband went bankrupted and left in 1880 for Belgium. Alice Hoschedé helped Monet to raise his two sons, Jean and Michel, by taking them to Paris to live alongside her own six children Blanche, Germaine, Suzanne, Marthe, Jean-Pierre, and Jacques. In the spring of 1880 Alice Hoschedé and all the children left Paris and rejoined Monet still living in the house in Vétheuil. In 1881 all of them moved to Poissy, which Monet hated. In April 1883 they moved to Vernon, then to a house in Giverny, Eure, in Upper Normandy, where he planted a large garden where he painted for much of the rest of his life. Following the death of her estranged husband, Alice Hoschedé married Claude Monet in 1892.
In 1883 Monet, Alice Horschede, her children, and Monet's sons, Jean and Michel, settled at Giverny, a French village located on the right bank of the Seine River in Normandy near Vernon, about 50 miles from Paris. There Monet bought a farmhouse surrounded by an orchard, which was to be his home until his death, in 1926, and is now a French national monument. Monet spent the '90s at or near Giverny, focusing on his artwork. In 1893 Monet bought a piece of meadow near his land. He wanted to make an Oriental water garden. Importing Chinese and Japanese bamboos, exotic water lilies, and rare species of plants. He managed to dig the pool and have a Japanese footbridge built which he painted green match the plants. Monet's house and garden in Giverny are now among the world's most popular tourist sites.
In 1911 Alice, his second wife, died. His oldest son Jean , who was married to Alice's daughter Blanche, died in 1914.
After Alice died Blanche looked after and cared for Monet who was now 71. It was during this time that Monet began to develop the first signs of cataracts. Monet kept painting as his vision worsened. Though he agreed to have the cataract in his right eye surgically removed in 1923, experts have even came up with the idea that the bolder brushstrokes, less subtle color and abstraction of Monet's later work were in a result of his failing eyesight. Monet died of lung cancer on December 5, 1926 at the age of 86 and was buried in the Giverny church cemetery.
Trying to pursue a career in art, Monet moved back to Paris with help from his family. Monet enrolled himself into the Charles Gleyre Academy(Monet stayed at the academy for about two years) . Gleyre charged only ten francs for models and the studio. This attracted a great amount of artists. Among them, Monet met three very close and influential friends: Frederic Bazille , Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. While all three painters were talented , all four of them came from very different social backgrounds. The commitment and extreme dedication to their new approach to art was what bound them all together for so long. Their new approach to art was eventually labeled impressionism.
During the time Monet was studying at Gleyre art was highly political. People thought that the only "real" way to paint art was by using the "Academic Classical" approach, meaning that every painting has a highly symbolic and story. Gleyre tried to guide Monet towards the academic approach to painting, but at the same time Monet met fellow classmate Renoir, the two became close friends and learned from each other. Both are now famous for their impressionistic views on art.
In 1865 Monet,25, met Camille Donieux, who was still in her teens. Camille was a intelligent and attractive girl with beautiful dark brown hair, who worked as a model for Monet. Monet was just a poor painter at that time. Camille became his girlfriend, mistress and model. Sadly, the couple lived in disheartening poverty. Right up to her death she modeled for him regularly, appearing frequently as a female figure in a rural landscape. Some of these canvases are among Monet's finest masterpieces. Camille and Monet were married around 1870 they were married at the town hall in Paris. Monet's Father and Aunt didn't even attend the wedding, Camille's parents did though. Monet and Camille moved shortly after their wedding to Trouville, France. Again on the edge of economic ruin, and with Camille pregnant, Monet's family were threatening to cut him off so he had to return home to Le Havre to try and make peace with his family. While Monet was away Camille gave birth to their first son, Jean. Monet also wrote letters to his friends begging them to loan him money. Monet even made an attempt at suicide by throwing himself into the Seine River.
In 1877 Camille gave birth to their second son, Michel. Soon Camille's health started to go down hill some say as a result of a malpracticed abortion, and others say she had cancer. On September 5, 1879 Camille died at the age of 32. Monet had not always treated Camille well and there were rumors of an affair with another women, Alice Hoschede, while still with Camille. Monet was was incredibly shocked by Camille's death. Claude painted her a last time on her deathbed.
During the early 1880's, after Alice's Horschede husband went bankrupted and left in 1880 for Belgium. Alice Hoschedé helped Monet to raise his two sons, Jean and Michel, by taking them to Paris to live alongside her own six children Blanche, Germaine, Suzanne, Marthe, Jean-Pierre, and Jacques. In the spring of 1880 Alice Hoschedé and all the children left Paris and rejoined Monet still living in the house in Vétheuil. In 1881 all of them moved to Poissy, which Monet hated. In April 1883 they moved to Vernon, then to a house in Giverny, Eure, in Upper Normandy, where he planted a large garden where he painted for much of the rest of his life. Following the death of her estranged husband, Alice Hoschedé married Claude Monet in 1892.
In 1883 Monet, Alice Horschede, her children, and Monet's sons, Jean and Michel, settled at Giverny, a French village located on the right bank of the Seine River in Normandy near Vernon, about 50 miles from Paris. There Monet bought a farmhouse surrounded by an orchard, which was to be his home until his death, in 1926, and is now a French national monument. Monet spent the '90s at or near Giverny, focusing on his artwork. In 1893 Monet bought a piece of meadow near his land. He wanted to make an Oriental water garden. Importing Chinese and Japanese bamboos, exotic water lilies, and rare species of plants. He managed to dig the pool and have a Japanese footbridge built which he painted green match the plants. Monet's house and garden in Giverny are now among the world's most popular tourist sites.
In 1911 Alice, his second wife, died. His oldest son Jean , who was married to Alice's daughter Blanche, died in 1914.
After Alice died Blanche looked after and cared for Monet who was now 71. It was during this time that Monet began to develop the first signs of cataracts. Monet kept painting as his vision worsened. Though he agreed to have the cataract in his right eye surgically removed in 1923, experts have even came up with the idea that the bolder brushstrokes, less subtle color and abstraction of Monet's later work were in a result of his failing eyesight. Monet died of lung cancer on December 5, 1926 at the age of 86 and was buried in the Giverny church cemetery.