Impressionism: Meet Monet

Claude Monet was a very famous painter from France. He is so famous that many people throughout the world who have not studied art at all know some of his paintings, especially those of water and water lilies. Monet loved water lilies.

Monet was a major contributor to a 19th-century art movement called Impressionism. Part of the Impressionist idea was to capture a split second of life on the canvas. Impressionism is characterized by short, thick strokes of paint, where wet paint can be placed right on top of wet paint, creating layers and texture. Brushstrokes are often visible. Other characteristics include painting ordinary subjects, a focus on color over lines, an emphasis on light, and inclusion of movement.