Today in History

November 14, 1840
First Impressions
Oscar-Claude Monet is born in Paris, France, the son of a grocer. He decides as a child that he wants to be an artist, and starts selling charcoal drawings in his teens. In his early 20s he meets the painter Pierre-August Renoir, who shares his appreciation for painting outdoors (en plein air) and emphasizing natural light and color. They stage several independent exhibits together in the 1870s and ‘80s, joined by other artists including Camille Pissarro and Edward Degas. Their style – which often lent a blurred, dreamy, effect to otherwise realistic scenes – become known as Impressionist painting. "For me a landscape hardly exists at all as a landscape, because its appearance is constantly changing; but it lives by virtue of its surroundings—the air and light—which vary continually."

In his later years, Monet becomes particularly fascinated with the changing effects of sunlight on the water lilies in his garden, and he paints them dozens of times. He dies in Giverny, France in 1926.



Today's Feature History Article

John Singer Sargent captures the pearly light of dusk in Paris

Americans in Paris

In the late 19th century, the City of Light beckoned Whistler, Sargent, Cassatt and other young artists. As a new exhibition makes clear, what they experienced would transform American art




 



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