Introduction Oscar Claude Monet was a French artist born in 1840 in Paris, France. His parents, Aubree Monet and Adolphe Monet, belonged to the second generation of Parisians. At the age of five, they moved to Le Harve where Oscar first expressed his interests of being an artist (Giverny, 2009). At the age of 11, he joined an art school and began to develop his art career until he became a professional artist, who left a legacy in the world of art. Claude Monet is renowned for spearheading the movement of impressionism in France (Ganz & Kendall, 2007). He founded the French impressionist painting and was among the people who pushed for the philosophy of the movement. The name of this philosophy was taken from a title of one of Monet’s paintings, Impression soleil levant, during an exhibition in 1874. Impressionists express their individual view before nature and the concept is mainly applied during landscape painting. Some of Monet’s famous pieces of painting include the The Beach in Pourville, Le Basin Aux Nympheas, La Grenouillere, Women in the Garden, and Impression Soleil Levant (Ganz & Kendall, 2007). Education and Work Claude Monet started school at the age of 11 when he joined an art school in Le Havre. It was during his school period when he met Eugine Boudin, his mentor, who encouraged him to start painting landscapes using oil paint. In 1859, he joined the Academie Suisse to further his studies in art. There he met Camille Pissaro as a fellow student. Camille was his first wife and she bore him two children (Gunderson, 2008). She also contributed to his works by posing as a model in some of his paintings. Claude Monet started working in 1860 when he moved to Africa to serve as a conscript in Algeria. This was supposed to be a seven-year commitment but two years later he contracted typhoid and was forced to leave the army. However, he only agreed to leave on a condition that he would go back to art school and complete his studies. In 1862, he returned to France where he met other artists who inspired him (Ganz & Kendall, 2007). Style of Art: Impressionism His style of painting was dubbed “impressionism”. This was a 19 th century movement that started in France (Ganz & Kendall, 2007). This body of art is characterized by unusual visual angles, inclusion of individual perception and experience, ordinary subject matter, depiction of the changing quality of light, open composition, and clear brush strokes. Impressionism is also characterized by certain techniques. Painting is done fast with thick short strokes in order to capture the essence of a subject and not its details (Howard, 2007). There is a sense of vibrancy on the surface created by the technique of applying color. It is done side by side to create the feeling of vibrancy. Black paint is avoided because impressionists usually mix complementary colors in order to produce dark tones. The content and composition of painting are also notable variables in Claude’s works and the works of other impressionists. Traditionally, painters would ensure there is a clear distinction between the subject and the background (Ganz & Kendall, 2007). However, for impressionists, the distinction is a