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Claude
Monet, widely considered the leader of the Impressionist
movement, was born in Paris in 1840, but spent his early days in Le
Havre, where he began his career. At the age of 18, he painted outdoors
under the guidance of Boudin and Jongkind both of whom were interested
in the effects of light upon objects and in capturing various atmospheric
conditions. |
In
1860 Monet went to Paris to study at the Académie Gleyre, where he
met Pierre Auguste
Renoir, Alfred Sisley,
and Bazille. The four young men, as well
as Camille Pissarro
and Paul
Cezanne, met frequently. It was from
these associations and conversations that Monet began to develop his
own theories of painting.
Between 1865 and 1871, he developed the luminous style that is most
closely associated with the Impressionist movement. Technically, this
style results from the application of paint to white canvas in clear
colors taken directly from the tube, and the method is based upon
the observation that objects take on color from their surroundings,
from varying lights, and from other objects placed near them. Shadow
in an Impressionist painting is no loner a dense black that has no
color, but rather a varicolored combination of tones, permeated by
light.
In 1872, Monet set up his own studio on a boat at Argenteuil and to
painted river scenes in which all nature is reflected in water. Monet's
friends gathered about him, and during the next five years the Impressionist
movement flourished in a happy atmosphere of mutual friendship and
ideas.
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