Oscar-Claude Monet  (November 14, 1840 ¨C December 5, 1926) was the leading artist in the growth of impressionism, and also the most steady and prolific practitioner on the movement's philosophy of showing one's perceptions before nature, particularly as used on plein-air landscape painting.

Monet was born on Nov. 14, 1840 on the fifth floor of 45 rue Laffitte, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. His father, Adolphe Monet, was a grocer. In 1845 the family relocated to Le Havre, France, where his father and uncle have a ship business. When he was fifteen Oscar became known as a caricaturist.Via an show of his drawings at a nearby frame store in 1858, Monet met Eugene Boudin who is a landscape artist and had big influence on Monet's future art career. Eugene presented Monet to outdoor art, a hobby which became his life's work soon. His father, however, wanted Monet to enter the family grocery store business, but he desired to become an artist.

In 1865 Monet handed in his artwork to official salon for for the first time. His 'Le dejeuner sur l'uerbe' (The Picnic 1865), illustrating his lady friend Camille Doncieux along with the artist Bazille, was gently criticized by Courbet; Monet improved the art, then, still unsatisfied, dismissed it from the show. In 1866, he painted Camille Doncieux as 'Camille, ou la femme a la robe verte' (Woman in the green Dress), and in 1867, she bore their first child, named Jean. Monet's artworks were regarded as inferior at the Salon shows. In 1868 he tried to kill himself. while using modest financial support from Frederic Bazille, Claude survived the primary attack of depression. In 1870 he married Camille Doncieux and they lived in Argenteul where Monet painted from a boat on the seine river, getting his thoughts of the interplay of light, water and atmosphere.

Monet  became passionate on the London landscapes, while he took shelter in England, to keep away from the Franco-German War of 1870-1871. He was accompanied by Camille Pissarro together with other two artists went on creating landscape art. At that time Claude became focused on the paintings of William Turner in London museums. Turner's impact on Monet always been visible, particularly in some future more vivdly chromatic art of the Thames, which he created in his visits to London in the 1890's and 1900's. In 1899, in London, Claude painted the river Thames in the group of art of the Houses of Parliament using the reflections of light in the river and fog. Then Monet said, "Without the fog, London may not be an attractive city."

Monet's famous painting 'Impression, soleil levant' (Impression, Sunrise 1872) was untitled till the first show in 1874, in the Paris studio of photographer Nadar. A title was required right away for the catalogue. Monet proposed simply 'Impression'. Renoir's brother Edouard who is the catalogue editor, added an explanatory 'Sunrise'. From the artwork's title, art critic Louis leroy coined the term "Impressionism", which he can be derogatory. Monet's title received criticism which seized on the first word. Monet with Alfred Sisley, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, were joined by Edgar Degas, and went on exhibiting together regardless of the financial failure of his first show.

After 1880, Impressionists gradually received attention, when people started to realized the value of their paintings. In 1883 Monet managed to rent a house in Giverny, in Haute-Normandie. In 1890 Monet got the house and enhanced the garden perfectly into a amazing landscaped park having a pond where he created many famous landscape paintings, and the water lily pond took over as the beloved subject of Monet's art thoroughout next forty years of his life. Monet outlived his second spouse and first son Jean. He endured cataracts, which affected his vision so that his later art was built with a general reddish tone. After two cataract surgeries in 1923, Monet even repainted a few of the reddish paintings. Monet died on December 5, 1926, and was laid to rest at the Giverny church cemetery.

Claude Monet's most famous paintings including:

Impression, Sunrise
Poppies
Water Lilies, 1906
Water Lilies and the Japanese bridge, 1897¨C99
woman with a parasol
san giorgio maggiore at dusk