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| Claude Monet |
| 1840-1926 |
| European Artist |
| Monet was born in Paris, France. He entered the Paris studio of Gleyre, where he met Renoir, Sisley and Bazille in 1862. Manet influenced his figure compositions of the 1860s, while the informal style of his later landscapes was influenced by Renoir. At the Exhibition of the Independents in 1874, the painting he had titled Impression: Sunrise was criticized for its unfinished appearance. The word "Impressionist" was coined as a derisive term for the exhibition. As the founder of Impressionism, Monet broke free of the dry and precise techniques of painting prevailing in France in the late 19th Century. He and others sought to express reality by capturing the effects of light rather than attempting "photo realism." He eliminated black and gray from his work, breaking colors into a prism, resulting in an explosion of spontaneity, brilliance and luminosity. Over the years, Monet developed a personal style: broad, visible brushstrokes, and pale, modulated tonalities. He explored the changes of light and color under various atmospheric conditions and at various times of day. In attempting to render the surface of objects with a few touches of color vibrating under the light, Monet was in the end able to demolish the academic concept of shape and volume. |
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