In addition to our extensive line of crystal-clear photographic calendars, we at BrownTrout are also very proud of our beautiful fine-art titles. For 2014 we present the Claude Monet square wall calendar! One of the founders and leading members of the French Impressionist movement, Monet was born in 1840 in Paris. By 1845, his family had moved to the coast at Le Havre in Normandy, where the young Monet began his path as an artist selling charcoal drawings on the streets. During this period Monet also met fellow artist Eugène Boudin on the beaches of Normandy. Boudin became his mentor and instructed him in the use of oil paints. He also taught Monet the technique of ‘plein air’ (open air) or landscape painting.

Claude Monet 12" x 12" Square Wall Calendar

After a brief stint of military service in Algeria, he contracted typhoid fever and was able to leave the army and further his painting studies, meeting like-minded artists like Auguste Renoir. They were growing tired of the traditional techniques taught in the schools and soon developed their own style which emphasized the play of light on outdoor subjects and quick, passionate brush strokes. These elements would become the core of the ‘Impressionist’ style.
Monet’s earlier works were rejected both by the Salon de Paris and the Royal Academy in England during his early career, and he and his first wife and model Camille Doncieux lived in poverty. At one point creditors even confiscated some of his paintings as payment. The outbreak of war in 1870 saw them move first to England and then Holland, where Monet continued to develop his technique, often painting numerous works of the same subject to contrast varying conditions of light, smoke or mist. His 1872 work ‘Impression, soleil levant,’ (English: Impression, sunrise) a portrait of the coast at le Havre, is the origin of the term ‘Impressionist.’

Claude Monet 12" x 12" Square Wall Calendar

He continued to move with his large family until finally settling at Giverny, where the exotic gardens and iconic lily ponds inspired some of his most famous and exquisite works. Originally rejected by academics, the Impressionist style has since become almost universally beloved and has influenced painters into the next century.

Purchase the 2014 Monet calendar here!

Claude Monet 12" x 12" Square Wall Calendar