CLAUDE MONET, his quotes on landscape painting art in French Impressionism & biography + life facts
Claude Monet (1840 – 1928), his quotes on life in Impressionism and landscape painting art. Claude Monet was a French landscape painter and leading artist in the anti-academic art movement Impressionism. Monet started painting 18 years old when he found in Le Havre the famous landscape painter Boudin as his teacher; later he became a leading artist in French Impressionism and ended in almost abstract landscape paintings, as Cézanne did in his way. At the bottom more biography facts and some useful art links for Claude Monet. – the editor.
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Claude Monet: ‘Haystacks, in morning’, 1991 |
Claude Monet, artist quotes on landscape painting by the leading painter in French Impressionism
– I want to paint the air in which the bridge, the house and the boat are to be found – the beauty of the air around them, and that is nothing less than the impossible.
* source, famous French people life quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists; MONET”, K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 8 (famous French artist & painter Claude Monet – about life & creating landscape paintings in open air: Impressionism art
– One day Boudin (famous French landscape painter who inspired Monet very young already to start painting, fh) said to me,”…appreciate the sea, the light, the blue sky”. I took his advice and together we went on long outings during which I painted constantly from nature. This was how I came to understand nature and learned to love it passionately.
* source, famous French people life quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 10.
– “…learn to draw: that’s where most of you (his pupils, fh) are falling down today… …draw with all your might; you can never learn to much. However, don’t neglect painting, go to the country from time to time and make studies and above all develop them…” (Monet is quoting here Troyon, famous Barbizon painter and Monet’s teacher in Paris, fh)
* source, famous French people life quotes: his letter to the famous French painter Boudin, 1859; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 11.
– I’m very happy very delighted… …for I am surrounded here by all that I love. I spent my time out of doors… …and naturally I’m working all the time, and I think this year I’m going to do some serious things. And then in the evening, dear fellow, I come home to my little cottage to find a good fire and a dear little family… …Dear friend, it’s a delight to watch this person (his first son Jean was born in 1867, fh) grow, and I am glad to have him to be sure….
* source, famous French people life quotes: his letter to his friend and painter in Impressionism Bazille, Etretat 1868; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 22.
– One is too taken up with all that one sees and hears in Paris, however strong one is, and what I do here will at least have the merit of being unlike anyone else, at least I believe so, because it will simply be the expression of what I, and only I have felt. The further I get, the more I regret how little I know, that’s what hinders me the most… …I don’t think I will spend much time in Paris now, a month at the very most, each year…
* source, famous French people life quotes: a letter to the painter Bazille, 1868; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 31.
– I do have a dream, a tableau of the bathing place of La Grenouillère, for which I’ve done some bad pochades (sketches), but it is a dream. Renoir, who have just spent a couple of months here, also wants to paint this subject.
* source, famous French people life quotes: a letter to Bazille, La Grenouillère September 1869; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 22.
– I found myself at daybreak at the bedside of a dead woman (his first wife Camille, fh) who had been and always will be dear to me. My gaze was fixed on her tragic temples, and I caught myself observing the shades and nuances of colour Death brought to her countenance. Blue, yellows, greys, I don’t know what. That is the state I was in… …Like a draught animal working at the millstone. Pity me…
* source, famous French people life quotes: a letter, September 1879; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 40.
– I’m half an hour late, I’ll come back tomorrow. (because the sun was that day too far already in Monet’s opinion, to paint his painting and the light well, fh)
* source, famous French people life quotes: remark of Monet, quoted by Ambroise Vollard, “En Ecoutant Paul Cézanne, Degas, Renoir”; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 44.
– I can’t hold out any longer and am in a state of utter despair. After a few days of good weather, it’s raining again and once again I have had to put the studies I started to one side. It’s driving me to distraction and the unfortunate thing is that I take it out on my poor paintings. I destroyed a large picture of flowers which I’d just done along with three or four paintings which I not only scraped down but slashed. This is absurd… …Please be kind enough to have some money forwarded to me…
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter from Pourville, to his buyer Durand-Ruel; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 50.
– I won’t be here long, I am working as hard as I can, as I told you (in a letter, fh) yesterday, I am very happy to be here and I hope to come up with something good, in any case I will bring lots of studies back with me so I can work on some big things at home.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter from Étretat to his second (future) wife Alice Hoschedé, 1883; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 51.
– I insist upon ‘doing it alone’. Much as I enjoyed making the trip there with Renoir as a tourist, I’d find it hard to work there (Northern Italy, on the edge of the Mediterranean, fh) together. I have always worked better alone and from my own impressions… …If he knew I was about to go, Renoir would doubtless want to join me and that would be equally disastrous for both of us.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter to his art-buyer Durand-Ruel, 1884; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 51.
– I climb up, go down again, then climb up once more; between all my studies, as a relaxation I explore every footpath, always curious to see something new.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter from Bordighera (around 1884, fh) ; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 52.
– I would love to do orange and lemon trees silhouetted against the blue sea, but I cannot find them the way I want them.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter from Bordighera (around 1884, fh) ; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 52.
– I walked to Cap Martin, a famous spot between Menton and Monte Carlo. I saw two motifs there that I want to paint because they are so different from things here, where the sea plays no big part in my studies.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter from Cote d’Azure to his second (future) wife Alice Hoschedé, 1884; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 55.
– I was hard at work beneath the cliff (Étretat, Normandy, fh), well sheltered from the wind, in the spot which you visited with me; convinced that the tide was drawing out I took no notice of the waves which came and fell a few feet away from me. In short, absorbed as I was, I didn’t see a huge wave coming; it threw me against the cliff and I was tossed about in its wake along with all my materials! My immediate thought was that I was done for, as the water dragged me down, but in the end I managed to clamber out on all fours, but Lord, what a state I was in! My boots, my thick stockings and my coat were soaked through. The palette which I had kept a grip on had been knocked over my face and my beard was covered in blue, yellow etc… …Anyway I was lucky to escape but how I raged when I found once I’d changed that I couldn’t work, and when it dawned on me that the painting… was done for, I was furious…
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter to his second (future) wife Alice Hoschedé, 1885; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 49.
– I am weary, having worked without a break all day; how beautiful it is here, to be sure, but how difficult to paint! I can see what I want to do quite clearly but I’m not there yet. It’s so clear and pure in its pink and blues that the slightest misjudged stroke looks like a smudge of dirt… … I have fourteen canvases underway…
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter from Cote d’Azure to his second (future) wife Alice Hoschedé, (around 1886, fh); as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 55.
– I am distressed, almost discouraged, and fatigued to the point of slightly ill… …Never have I been so unlucky with the weather. Never three suitable days in succession, so I have to be always making changes (in his painting, fh) for everything is growing and turning green. And I have dreamt of painting the Creuse just as we saw it… …In short, by dint of changes I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, and then there is that river that shrinks, swells again, green one day, then yellow, sometimes almost dry, and which tomorrow will be a torrent, after the terrible rain that is falling at the moment. In fact, I am very worried. Write to me; I have a great need of comfort…
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter to art critic and friend Gustave Geffroy, 24 April 1889; as quoted in ”Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock -”, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p. 129.
– I have gone back to some things that can’t possibly be done: water, with weeds waving at the bottom. It is a wonderful sight, but it drives one to crazy to try to paint it. But that is the kind of thing I am always a tackling.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter to art critic and friend Gustave Geffroy, 22 June 1890; as quoted in ”Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock -”, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p. 129.
– I am in a very black mood and profoundly disgusted with painting. It really is a continual torture! Don’t expect to see anything new, the little I did manage to do has been destroyed, scraped off, or torn up. You’ve no idea what appalling weather we’ve had continuously these two past months. When you’re trying to convey the weather, the atmosphere and the general mood, it’s enough to make you mad with rage.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter, Giverny, to art critic and friend Gustave Geffroy, 1890; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 56.
– For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but its surroundings bring it to life – the air and the light, which vary continually…(1891)
* source, famous French people life quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 56.
– Colours no longer looked as brilliant to me as they use to do (because Monet’s sight was beginning to fail, fh), I no longer painted shades of light so correctly. Reds looked muddy to me, pinks insipid, and the intermediate or lower notes in the colour scale escaped me. As for forms, I could see them as clear as ever, and render them as decisively. At first I tried pertinacity. How many times I have remained for hours near the little bridge, exactly were we are now, in the full glare of the sun, sitting on my camp-stool, under my sunshade, forcing myself to resume my interrupted task and to recapture the freshness my palette had lost! A waste of effort. What I painted was more and more mellow… …and (when) I compared it with what I used to do in the old days. I would fall into a frantic rage, and I slashed all my pictures with my penknife…
* source, famous French people life quotes:remark by Monet – later in his life – on his ‘Water lilies’; as quoted in ”Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock -”, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, pp. 131-132.
– Though I remained insensitive to the subtleties and delicate gradations of colour… …my eyes at least did not deceive me when I drew back and looked at the subject in its broad lines, and this was the starting-point of new compositions… …Slowly I tried my strength in innumerable rough sketches which convinced me… …I could see as clearly as ever when it came to vivid colours isolated in a mass of dark tones. How was I to put this to use? My intentions gradually became clearer… …I said to myself, as I made my sketches, that a series of general impressions, captured at the times of day when I had the best chance of seeing correctly, would not be without interest. I waited for the idea to consolidate, for the grouping and composition of the themes to settle themselves in my brain little by little, of their own accord; and the day when I felt I held enough cards to be able to try my luck with a real hope of success, I determined to pass to action, and did so.
* source, famous French people life quotes: remark of Monet – later in his life – on his ‘Water lilies’; as quoted in ”Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock -”, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p. 132.
– I’m absolutely sickened with and demoralized by this life I’ve been leading for so long. When you reach my age, there is nothing more to look forward to. Unhappy we are, unhappy we will continue to be.
* source, famous French people life quotes:quote of Monet – later in his life -, as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 26./strong
– I am working as hard as I possible can, and do not even dream of doing anything except the cathedral (of Rouen, fh). It’s an immense task.
* source, famous French people life quotes: Monet’s letter from Rouen, to his art buyer Durand-Ruel, 1893; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 70.
– Anyone who say he has finished a canvas is terribly arrogant (1983)
* source, famous French people life quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 50.
– I took me some time to understand my water lilies. I planted them for pleasure; I cultivated them without thinking of painting them (after 1895, fh).
* source, famous French people life quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 69.
– I’ve never seen such changeable conditions and I had over 15 canvases under way, going from one to the other and back again, and it was never quite right; a few unfortunate brushstrokes and in the end I lost my nerve and in a temper I packed everything away in crates with no further desire to look out of the window, knowing full well that in this mood I’d only mess things up and all the paintings I’d done were awful, and perhaps they are, more than I suppose (London, 1900).
* source, famous French people life quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 72.
– …but what a pity that I did not come here (Venice, fh) when I was younger and more adventurous.
* source, famous French Impressionism painting quotes: Monet’s letter to art critic and friend Gustave Geffroy, 1907; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 56.
– I felt the need, in order to widen my field of observation and to refresh my vision in front of new sights, to take myself away for a while from the area where I was living, and to make some trips lasting several weeks in Normandy, Brittany and elsewhere. It was the opportunity for relaxation and renewal. I left with no preconceived itinerary, no schedule mapped out in advance. Wherever I found nature inviting, I stopped. (a quote by Monet, explaining his wanderlust to his friend Thiebault-Sisson, fh)
* source, famous Impressionism painter quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 49.
– Nothing in the whole world is of interest to me but my painting and my flowers (shortly after the death of his second wife Alice in 1911, fh)
* source, famous French people life quotes: “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 76.
– I’m very sorry to inconvenience you (the art dealers G. and J. Berheim-Jeune, fh), but I find it impossible to supply you with any more Venice pictures. It was useless trying to persuade my self otherwise, the work that’s left is too poor for exhibition. Don’t insist… …I’ve enough good sense in me to know whether what I’m doing is good or bad, and it’s utterly bad, and I can’t believe that people of taste, if they have any knowledge at all, could see any value in it. Things have been dragging on like this for far too long…(Venice, 1912)
* source, famous French painter in Impressionism: Monet’s letter to his art dealers G. and J. Berheim-Jeune; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 72.
– I was thinking of preparing my palette and my brushes to resume work, but relapses and further bouts of pain prevented it. I’m not giving up that hope and am occupying myself with some major alterations in my studios and plans to perfect the garden (in Giverny, fh). All this to show you that, with courage, I’m getting the upper hand. (in a letter, three months before he died, fh)
* source, famous French artist quotes on Impressionism: Monet’s letter to Georges Clemenceau, September 1926; as quoted in “Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World’s greatest Artists, MONET”; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 79.
art links for more information & biography quotes by the Impressionism artist Claude Monet
* painter of Impressionism: Claude Monet, biography on Wikipedia
