Third, Monet was experimenting with a new type of paint at the time, which allowed him to capture the light and color in a way that was previously impossible. This was a new approach to painting, and one that would come to define the Impressionist movement. Second, Monet was interested in capturing the momentary impression of a scene, rather than painting a realistic, detailed depiction. The harbor was bustling with activity and the colors were simply stunning. First, Monet was captivated by the beauty of the scene before him. So why did Claude Monet paint Impression, Sunrise? There are a few reasons. The painting is credited with giving birth to the Impressionist movement. He later produced several series of paintings including: Rouen Cathedral, Poplars, the Houses of Parliament, Mornings on the Seine, and the Water Lilies that were painted on his property at Giverny.In 1872, Claude Monet painted Impression, Sunrise, depicting the port of Le Havre, France. Fifteen of the paintings were exhibited at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1891. His first series exhibited as such was of Haystacks, painted from different points of view and at different times of the day. Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, through the end of his life in 1926, Monet worked on "series" paintings, in which a subject was depicted in varying light and weather conditions. Within a few years by 1899 Monet built a greenhouse and a second studio, a spacious building, well lit with skylights. By November 1890 Monet was prosperous enough to buy the house, the surrounding buildings and the land for his gardens. The family worked and built up the gardens and Monet's fortunes began to change for the better as his dealer Paul Durand-Ruel had increasing success in selling his paintings. The house was close enough to the local schools for the children to attend and the surrounding landscape offered an endless array of suitable motifs for Monet's work. There was a barn that doubled as a painting studio, orchards and a small garden. The house was situated near the main road between the towns of Vernon and Gasny at Giverny. Following the death of her estranged husband, Alice Hoschedé married Claude Monet in 1892.Īt the beginning of May 1883, Monet and his large family rented a house and two acres from a local landowner. In April 1883 they moved to Vernon, then to a house in Giverny, Eure, in Upper Normandy, where he planted a large garden where he painted for much of the rest of his life. From the doorway of the little train between Vernon and Gasny he discovered Giverny. In 1881 all of them moved to Poissy which Monet hated. In the spring of 1880 Alice Hoschedé and all the children left Paris and rejoined Monet still living in the house in Vétheuil. They were Blanche, Germaine, Suzanne, Marthe, Jean-Pierre, and Jacques. After her husband (Ernest Hoschedé) became bankrupt, and left in 1878 for Belgium, in September 1879, and while Monet continued to live in the house in Vétheuil Alice Hoschedé helped Monet to raise his two sons, Jean and Michel, by taking them to Paris to live alongside her own six children. Both families then shared a house in Vétheuil during the summer. In 1878 the Monets temporarily moved into the home of Ernest Hoschedé, (1837-1891), a wealthy department store owner and patron of the arts.