When most people think of Impressionism, they think of Claude Monet - he was a giant among artists, yet his paintings are often of simple subjects that don't seem particularly impressive. Claude Monet was born in Paris, France in 1840, and because of his father's job, he grew up close to the sea. Growing up with the sea in his backyard allowed Monet to observe how it changed with the seasons and how the light danced on the water. He began painting after meeting Eugene Boudin, who advocated for painting in the open air, which was then a very uncommon practice.

Open-air paintings would become Monet's hallmark, and Boudin's help would change the way that Monet painted for the rest of his life. 

Monet was one of the first and strongest advocates of the Impressionist movement, which tried "to record on the spot the impression that relaxed, momentary vision might receive," rather than to create an accurate painting of what was being seen. When you look at Monet's paintings, you can see that he seems to paints moods or emotions instead of an object or a person.

Monet's uncanny understanding of the motion of light and air is a hallmark of his paintings. The paintings themselves appear at first glance to be rough sketches, but when you look closer, Monet's attention to detail and his mastery of light and shadow reveal themselves. His methods have been incredibly influential on artists following after him, including John Singer Sargent, an American artist who borrowed successfully from the Impressionist style-book, and was good friends with Monet. While mainly painting portraits, Sargent utilized similar techniques as Monet's in some of his paintings to emphasize the play of light on his subjects and to give his paintings an almost dream-like quality. Claude Monet is undoubtedly a master among artists, and his paintings draw the audience into a world of air and light.