This is a slide show of works by the world's great painters. Please enjoy the many wonderful masterpieces. Claude Monet (1840-1926) was a French painter who was a representative of the Impressionist movement. His masterpiece, Impression, Sunrise (1872), gave the Impressionist movement its name. His real name was Claude-Oscar Monet. He was born on November 14, 1840 in the Rue de Lafitte in Paris. He spent his childhood in the countryside of Normandy, where the abundant nature gave him a passion for landscape painting, but for economic reasons he moved to Le Havre, a port city at the mouth of the Seine. Monet grew up in a wealthy family and began to show his talent for painting in his early teens. By the age of 15, he had become so well-known in the city that he was selling his paintings. His works caught the eye of the landscape painter Eugène Boudin, who encouraged Monet to paint landscapes and taught him how to paint in oil outdoors. In 1859, he moved to Paris to study painting, where he met fellow artists such as Pissarro, Sisley, Bazille, and Renoir. After his first entry into the Salon de Paris in 1865, he continued to challenge himself to participate in salons, establishing the technique of outdoor painting and dividing brushstrokes, but was rejected in the 1869 and 1870 salons. In his private life, he began a relationship with Camille and had a son, but his father stopped supporting him, and he began to have financial difficulties. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began, and he went to London to avoid military service, where he met the art dealer Durand-Ruel, who gave him an important patronage. Returning to Paris, he set up a studio in the nearby town of Argenteuil, where he painted landscapes of the Seine and other scenes. In 1874, he and his fellow artists held an exhibition independent of the Salon, exhibiting works such as Impression, Sunrise, which became a historic event known as the first Impressionist exhibition. However, his work was poorly received by society at the time. He continued to work in Argenteuil until 1878, and participated in the second and third Impressionist exhibitions. Meanwhile, the Impressionist group was disbanding due to differences in the way members thought. In 1881, he moved to Poissy. However, Monet hated the area, and in 1883 he moved with Alice and his children to Chiverny, a suburb about 80 kilometers west of Paris. It was here that he achieved great success in his later years. Despite suffering from cataracts, Monet devoted himself to gardening and creative activities in Chiverny, leading a wealthy life. He focused on "series" of paintings of the same theme under various weather conditions, seasons, and light, and painted many motifs such as haystacks and water lilies. His passion for art never faded until the very end of his life, and he produced many works, passing away in 1926 at the age of 86. The garden he created at his house in Giverny is said to be a work of art in itself. After his death, the place was in a state of disrepair, but after restoration work, it has been open to the public since 1980. Welcome to Café Des Arts, friends who love art. The information we have introduced about the artists is only a small part of the story. We hope that this will inspire you to learn more and see more. In the days before the amazing technology that allows you to create "grand art" in 60 seconds by typing on a keyboard, 99% of the artists introduced at Café Des Arts completed their work from start to finish using pencils, pens, brushes, ink, and paints. It takes months, sometimes years, to create a single piece of work. If you have the chance, please try to see the actual work. Visiting a museum and enjoying art also helps protect many wonderful works and supports their passing on to the next generation. See you again soon. Café Des Arts