Claude Monet was born November 14, 1840 in rue Laffite, Paris. His family moved to Le Harve in 1845, where Monet's father entered a business venture with his brother in law. Monet began school in 1951 where he began to learn drawing from Francois-Charles Orchard. Early on, he had a dislike for formal education, and began to draw caricatures for the townspeople of Le Harve. As a teenager, he made a nice living selling the caricatures and some of his work was displayed in the window of a local art supply shop.
It was in this display case where Monet broke out of drawing simple caricatures and became the impressionist he is known as today. Eugene Boudin displayed his paintings in the very same store and upon seeing Monet's work became very impressed with the young artist. Boudin convinced Monet to work out of doors with him and to try oils and pastels. At first, Monet hated the works of Boudin. They were small, timid, and very different from most contemporary works. …
