Though born in Paris, Monet moved with his family to the port town of Le Havre in Normandy at age five. There, he began drawing caricatures to earn pocket money. But it was his encounter with landscape painter Eugène Boudin in 1858 that changed everything. Boudin introduced him to plein air painting (literally “plain air”, outdoor) and Monet later credited him for awakening his artistic vision.

Monet moved to Paris in 1859 to immerse himself in the capital's art world but his early ambitions were interrupted by conscription. Drafted in 1861 to serve in Algeria, Monet's time in North Africa left a lasting impact. Though short-lived due to illness (he was discharged in 1862 after contracting typhoid), he would later say:

"It did me the greatest good in every way... I thought only of painting, intoxicated as I was by this admirable country."

From 1865 to 1870, Monet submitted work to the prestigious Paris Salon, including La Pointe de la Hève at Low Tide and Mouth of the Seine at Honfleur. Though occasionally accepted, Monet was largely discouraged by the academic establishment. His innovative, light-infused technique of capturing fleeting moments with quick, visible brushwork ran counter to Salon tastes.

During this period, Monet painted Woman in the Green Dress (1866) and Camille Monet on a Garden Bench, reflecting his deepening relationship with Camille Doncieux, who would later become his wife.

He fathered his first son, Jean, in 1867, and began experimenting more radically with colour and light, painting riversides and beaches with what would later be recognised as a foundational Impressionist approach.

To escape the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Monet moved his young family to the Netherlands and then to London. There, he met French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who would become one of his most important supporters. Durand-Ruel saw the promise in Monet’s work and helped him break free from the rigid grip of the Salon.

Upon returning to France, Monet settled in Argenteuil, a town on the Seine northwest of Paris. He continued developing his plein air style and painted vibrant garden scenes and river landscapes.

Monet’s life was not untouched by tragedy. Camille died in 1879 at just 32, and her passing marked a shift in Monet’s palette and tone. He once recalled:

"I one day found myself looking at my beloved wife's dead face and just systematically noting the colours according to an automatic reflex."

Despite the grief, he continued painting, relocating eventually to the village of Giverny in 1883.

It was in Giverny that Monet found his final home and the muse that would define his legacy: his own garden.

Over the years, he transformed the property into a floral sanctuary. He directed gardeners, imported exotic plants, and even built a Japanese-style bridge over a lily pond. In 1899, he began painting what would become his most famous series: Water Lilies.

This series, numbering over 250 works, dominated the last three decades of his life. Rich with colour and depth, these canvases pushed the boundaries of abstraction, anticipating future movements like Abstract Expressionism.

By 1902, Monet’s water garden spanned 4,000 square metres. Today, it still flourishes at Giverny, preserved by the Fondation Claude Monet.

In the 1910s, Monet began to experience vision loss due to cataracts. His signature sense of colour suffered. Though he initially resisted surgery, he finally underwent a cataract operation in 1923. In its aftermath, he could once again see the "real colours" and even repainted earlier works with renewed clarity.

Though frustrated at times, Monet never stopped painting. He even destroyed works he considered unsatisfactory. In his final years, he continued to rework his Water Lilies and contributed a monumental series to the French state, which now resides at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.

Monet died of lung cancer in 1926 at the age of 86. He is buried at the Giverny church cemetery. At his funeral, longtime friend and statesman Georges Clemenceau removed the black cloth from Monet’s coffin and replaced it with a floral one, declaring:

"No black for Monet!"

Since his death, Claude Monet has become one of the most celebrated painters in history. His works have sold for record-breaking sums, his gardens remain a site of pilgrimage, and his vision of light and sensation continues to inspire artists worldwide.

Monet was not just the founder of Impressionism. He was a bridge between academic tradition and the modernist revolution. His canvases captured not just what the world looked like, but how it felt in a passing moment.

From Impression, Sunrise to Water Lilies, his work is a meditation on perception, movement, and beauty.

Explore Inka Arthouse’s curated collection of Claude Monet’s prints to bring a piece of that brilliance into your home — framed, unframed, timeless.