Claude Monet

When Monet painted Impression Sunrise in 1872, he inadvertently created a new Movement, one that dominated Paris until the foundation of Cubism. No doubt inspired by the Siene Valley, he set up a Studio there and began to paint landscapes. Monet and Renoir created the Broken Color technique which brought atmosphere and light into their paintings. He was especially fond of the way that light and images reflected off the water, shaped by the Sea breezes and aided by the sun. His paintings are all about sunlight and color, he can not escape them so he draws them prominently into his works. Around the 1890's he began to work in Series, painting the same scenes at different times under different conditions. I think the most famous of these would be Haystacks or Water Lillies but he also painted Rouen Cathedral, Poplars, the Parliament, and Mornings on the Seine, among others. I would be lying if I said that I was a huge Monet fan, with the exception of The Seine at Giverny, it's hard ... Read more

I like it. it reminds me of the old man and the sea.

soft & simple... lovely.

The equivalence in paintings to Claude Debussey in music, and notice they even have the same first name. I have to be honest that the dreamy impressionist style is not my thing. If I were to give ratings based on how I like his work, he'd get less than 4 stars from me but then I would at the same time earn myself a slew of disagree votes. However, as far as the impressionists go, he certainly deserves the top spot.

A prolific Artist... Monet created breathtakingly beautiful works that embrace fleeting moments bathed in light. I stood before one of his "Haystacks" completely Mesmerized... it is the sort of painting that inspires awe. Monet painted from his soul, and the light shines forth.

LIKE IT!!

I love Monet's work....very friendly if that makes sense

Calude Monet was an artistic visionary in more ways than one! In 1923 Monet had eye surgery to remove cataracts. These cataracts had affected his work, causing a reddish tone in many of his paintings. Monet claimed that after his surgery he was able to see ultraviolet wavelengths normally filtered by the lens of the eye. Some believe this extraordinary vision was responsible for the striking presentation of color demonstrated in his later works! http://www.free-art-images.com/claude_monet.html

As spokesboy for Impressionism, the movement which seeks to remove all traces of draughtsmanship from its works, Monet is probably the most overrated artist in the history of time, inspiring, nay, validating the existence of millions of people who can't draw but sure like pretty colors, giving them the false hope that they can be artists, too. Give me a break, Claude.

The artworks expressed by Monet is very breathtaking. The way he was able to depict water was inspiring for young artists such as myself (Sanjeev Kumar) and overall his work is great. A hero for all artists.

very nice impressionist art. I love art! ;-)

Allright. Average. The fact that one of his artworks had a racist theme brings his down.

Vaguely pleasant and somewhat overrated.

I can't decide if Monet or Van Gogh is my favorite painter. I will say that Monet had a much smoother style of painting than Van Gogh, and his use of color was more refined if you will. His Waterlilly paintings were absolutely gorgeous and the colors so vivid. You could just sit there and stare at them all day.

The great,prolific impressionist maestro;his gorgeous landscapes seem to breathe the very essence of France.If,as Wiggum says,some of his paintings now suffer from overfamiliarity,when you come across a new one,the result is usually totally exhilarating.His feeling for the countryside,light,air and colour(though for several years his palette changed due to an eye condition),his masterly,inspirational technique,and above all his sense of freedom have given me countless hours of pleasure.

All he did was landscapes. Not very original. Just put a couple dots here and there and trick people into thinking they'll be cool if they say they can see a picture.

Wiggum's comment cracked me up and is so true..As a female, I can attest to the fact that the majority of college girls had at least one Monet on their dorm room walls (myself included). As I have grown older, I think I appreciate Monet more than I did in college..then it was the simple beauty, cheerful colors and tranquil scenes...I think the femininity of his style is what attracts women. However, now I tend to favor the understated and muted beauty of "Rouen Cathedral" and "Manneporte" rather than the overexposed "Water Lilies"..No matter what your taste, I think everyone has at least one Monet that they enjoy and can somehow get lost in..He somehow brings you in to the scene..you are always an observer, but are somehow drawn into the painting as an observer, rather than being totally detached and looking in.

I recognize Monet's talent, and I do like his paintings. But for me Monet is a little tainted by the fact that every single girl I knew in college had at least one Monet on her wall. If you snapped your finger in any of the college dorms and magically made all the Monets disappear, the walls would have been half empty. OK, sorry, overexposure is certainly not Monet's fault, and there's a reason he's so popular. His work is beautiful. When you're actually looking at his paintings in a museum, it's always interesting to see how different they look when you're really close and when you're really far away. As the king of the Impressionists, Monet probably deserves five stars, but I just can't do it.