Claude Monet Timeline

Monet painted Women in the Garden at Ville-d'Avray using his future wife Camille Doncieux as a model. The large plein air canvas was rejected by the Salon of 1867 but is now considered an important precursor to Impressionism.

Image source: Women in the Garden

Monet painted Impression, Sunrise, a hazy view of Le Havre's harbor at dawn. Its exhibition in 1874 prompted critic Louis Leroy to mockingly coin the term 'Impressionism,' which the group embraced.

Image source: Impression, Sunrise

Monet painted a series of about 25 canvases depicting grainstacks near Giverny across seasons and times of day, systematically exploring changing light. The series brought him critical acclaim and commercial success when exhibited in 1891.

Image source: Haystacks (Monet series)

Working from rented vantage points facing Rouen Cathedral's facade, Monet painted more than 30 canvases capturing the stone surface under shifting light and weather, cementing his reputation as master of the serial motif.

Image source: Rouen Cathedral (Monet series)

During repeated trips to London, Monet painted the Thames, Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament shrouded in fog, producing atmospheric series that rank among his most admired works.

Image source: Charing Cross Bridge (Monet series)

Monet began his celebrated Water Lilies series, painting the pond at Giverny with its floating blossoms and reflected sky. He would return to this subject obsessively for the rest of his career, producing some 250 related canvases.

Image source: Water Lilies (Monet series)

Following the outbreak of World War I, Monet committed to creating monumental panoramic Water Lilies murals. Working in a new large studio built at Giverny, he devoted his final decades to these immersive decorations.

On the urging of friend and statesman Georges Clemenceau, Monet signed an agreement donating his monumental Water Lilies panels to the French state, destined for the Orangerie in Paris, where they remain today.

Image source: Musée de l'Orangerie

Monet settled in a house in Giverny, Normandy, rented initially and later purchased. The surrounding gardens would become the defining subject of his art for the rest of his life, and the village soon attracted artists from around the world.

Image source: Giverny

Now financially secure, Monet purchased the house at Giverny and gradually acquired surrounding land, allowing him to transform the grounds into elaborate gardens designed as living subjects for his paintings.

Image source: Fondation Monet in Giverny

Following the death of her husband Ernest Hoschedé in 1891, Alice Hoschedé, who had lived with the Monet household since 1878, married Monet. Her six children joined his two sons in the blended family at Giverny.

Image source: Alice Hoschedé

Monet purchased additional land across the railway from his property and diverted water from the Epte river to create a Japanese-style water garden with a lily pond, arched bridges, and exotic plants that would inspire his late masterpiece series.

Jean Monet died at age 46 after a long illness. His widow Blanche, herself a painter, took over running the Giverny household and cared for the aging artist in his final decade.

Suffering from cataracts that had distorted his vision and color perception, Monet underwent surgery. After recovering, he destroyed many canvases painted during his impaired years and reworked others with renewed clarity.

Monet died of lung cancer at his home in Giverny at age 86. Georges Clemenceau led the funeral service, and the artist was buried in the family plot at the Giverny church cemetery.

Months after Monet's death, the Musée de l'Orangerie opened its specially designed oval galleries displaying the eight monumental Water Lilies panels, fulfilling his vision of an immersive environment of light, water, and reflection.