Doing Impressions: Monet's Early Caricatures (ca. late 1850s)
Before he painted water lilies, a teenage Claude Monet was a highly successful caricaturist in Le Havre, reportedly earning significant sums for his humorous sketches of local bigwigs. This surprising entrepreneurial phase, which he later claimed could have made him a millionaire, directly funded his move to Paris to pursue formal art training against his father's wishes. The experience also served as a formative "clandestine apprenticeship," subtly influencing his developing artistic eye for capturing the essence of a subject.
The Lowdown
The article delves into the little-known early career of Claude Monet, revealing that at the age of fifteen, the future Impressionist master was a surprisingly successful and prolific caricaturist in his hometown of Le Havre.
- Monet sold his caricatures through a local framing shop, attracting crowds and charging 20 francs per piece (equivalent to about 200€ today).
- He was remarkably productive, sometimes creating up to eight caricatures a day, and later claimed this venture could have made him a millionaire.
- A collection of these early works, considered a "clandestine apprenticeship," is now housed at the Art Institute of Chicago.
- His caricatures ranged from detailed portraits, like that of Léon Manchon, to more fantastical and even derisive depictions, such as Jules Didier as a "Butterfly Man" or rival Henri Cassinelli as "Rufus Croutinelli."
- The estimated 2,000 francs (20,000€ today) earned from these sales were crucial, enabling him to move to Paris for artistic training despite his father's objections.
- Monet also credited this period with introducing him to his future mentor, Eugène Boudin, whose paintings were displayed in the same framing shop.
- The quick, essence-focused nature of caricature may have subtly laid groundwork for his later development of Impressionism.
Monet's initial foray into commercial caricature was not merely a youthful pastime; it was a financially foundational and artistically formative period that set the stage for his eventual journey to becoming one of the most celebrated painters in history.