Claude Monet was a French artist who participated in Impressionist movement in art. This term "Impressionist" was extracted from the title of Monet's first major work "Impression: Sunrise". Impressionist art are generally of landscapes and is known for the capturing of light in a scene (Artcylopedia).
Claude Oscar Monet was born in Paris, France on November 14, 1840 ("Biography of Claude MONET"). At the age of five Monet's family moved to Le Havre, a small costal town in Normandy France where his father was originally from (Sproccati 34). Claude's father was a shopkeeper, and had hoped that Claude would follow in his footsteps, but later accepted his son's passion and talent for art (Wikipedia).
At the age of fifteen Claude made money selling charcoal caricatures (Wikipedia). Later, Claude used the money made from his caricatures to live off of while he studied at the Academie Suisse in Paris, France (Sproccati 34). While still a budding young artist in Normandy, however, Monet came into contact with his first mentor, Eugene Boudin. During their time together, Boudin taught Monet a technique of painting known as en plein air, which was simply outdoor painting (Wikipedia). In 1857, when Claude was only seventeen, his mother, Louise, died.
In the autumn of 1860, Monet began a seven-year military service commitment in Algeria. After two years, Claude contracted typhoid and was sent home on sick-leave. While back in Le Havre Monet spent his time painting again with his mentor Boudin (Wikipedia; Sproccati 34). While there, Monet and Boudin met Johan Barthold Jongkind, a Dutch artist with whom Claude would become life-long friends.
Later that year, Monet's father bought out the remaining five years of his son's military service, and Monet returned to Paris where he began studying art in the studio of Charles Gleyre. While there in Gleyre's studio, Monet met fellow artists Jean-Frederic Bazille, Pierre-Auguste Renoi...