0 Who Was Claude Monet

Who Was Claude Monet?

Who Was Claude Monet? Claude Monet brought sunshine into painting. He was one of the first artists to work outdoors. That may not sound unusual to us. But before 1870, most artists did all their painting in studios. They used models dressed up as Greek gods or heroes from history. They painted with dark colors so their pictures would look more "serious." They might have sometimes gone outside to draw a scene, but they always came back inside to paint the finished picture.

Claude Monet and his artist friends broke the rules. Even as art students in Paris, they took their easels and paints and brushes outdoors to paint riverbanks or woods. They made trips to the seashore and painted all day long.

They wanted to show the way sunlight made water and trees and boats look at different times during the day. If they painted people, they painted ordinary people in ordinary clothes. They used bright colors and painted quickly.

For years, Monet earned hardly any money. Sometimes he could not pay the rent; sometimes his family had no heat; sometimes they went hungry. Still, Monet would not give up. Today, he is one of the most famous artists ever. Paintings by Monet sell for millions of dollars and hang in museums all over the world. We are all lucky that Claude never stopped believing in his art.