Claude Monet I - 1840-1879

1840 – Born in Paris son of wholesale grocer Adolphe Monet and his wife Louise.

1845 – Family moves to Le Havre, most important port on English channel coast.

1855 -  Monet gains reputation for caricatures of local worthies.

1856 – Seacoast painter Eugène Boudin introduces him to open-air painting.

1859-60 – First visit to Paris , meets landscapist Constant Troyon and Realist circle.

1861-62 – Military service, stationed in Algeria.

1862 – Meets Jockind in Normandy, enters Gleyre studio in Paris where he will meet Bazille, Renoir and Sisley.

1864 – Painting in forest of Fontainebleau, on channel coast, around Honfleur and Le Havre.

1865 – Shows two seascapes at Paris Salon. Meets Camille Doncieux young woman of bourgeois background from Lyon. Begins Déjeuner sur l’Herbe.

1866 – Fails to finish Déjeuner sur l’herbe, works on Women in the Garden in Ville d’Avray.

1867 – Women in the Garden refused in Salon. Birth of his son Jean, financial difficulties force him to move back to his family in Le Havre.

1868 – Living with Camille and Jean at Etretat.

1869 – Submissions rejected at Salon. Living and working in Bougival often in the company of Renoir and Pissarro.

1870 – Marries Camille, honeymoon in Trouville. Takes refuge in London in autumn after break-out of Franco-Prussian war.

1871 – Introduced in London by François Daubigny to his future dealer Durand-Ruel. Returns to France via Holland, rents house in Argenteuil at end of year.

1872 –  Visits imprisoned Courbet, works in Le Havre and Rouen, briefly returns to Holland, paints with Renoir in Argenteuil.

1873 -  Decides to send nothing more to Salon.  Builds studio boat. Meets Caillebotte and agrees to group exhibition. Camille inherits from her father 15 000 francs.

1874 – First Impressionist exhibition at Nadar’s 35 boulevard des Capucines April 15 to May 15. Monet shows 12 works including “Impression – Sunrise”.  Joined by Manet and Renoir in Argenteuil.

1875 – Auction sale of Impressionist paintings at Drouot , Monet sells for between 165 and 325 frs. Great financial difficulties, asks help from Manet, Camille taken ill.

1876 – Second Impressionist exhibition, shows 18 pictures.  Camille’s money is used up, visits collector Ernest Hoschedé. Begins Gare Saint-Lazare series.

1877 – Third Impressionist exhibition, exhibits 30 paintings. Still desperate financial straits.

1878 – Paris world fair. Monets settle in Vétheuil, Michel Monet is born. Hoschedé is bankrupt, sale of his collection, his wife and 6 children move in with the Monets at Vétheuil.

1879 – Fourth Impressionist exhibition, shows 29 pictures.  Following Renoir’s example decides to show at Salon again.  Camille dies in September. Gives up painting until winter.