Monet was a founder of French Impressionist painting and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature. In fact, The term "Impressionism" is derived from the title of his painting Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which was exhibited in 1874 in the first of the independent exhibitions mounted by Monet and his associates as an alternative to the Salon de Paris.

From 1883, Monet lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property and began a vast landscaping project which included lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best-known works. He began painting the water lilies in 1899, first in vertical views with a Japanese bridge as a central feature and later in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life.

Monet's father disapproved of his painting. He wanted him to go into the family grocery business. His mother was a singer and supported Monet's desire for a career in art.

In 1861, at the age of twenty, Monet was drafted into the First Regiment of African Light Cavalry. His prosperous father could have purchased Monet's exemption from conscription but declined to do so when his son refused to give up painting. Monet served for one year in Algeria until he contracted typhoid, and his aunt stepped in to remove him from the army on condition that he complete a formal art course.

Claude Monet was actually born Oscar-Claude Monet, and his parents referred to him as Oscar. Some of his very early drawings are signed "O. Monet".

From December 1871 to 1878 he lived at Argenteuil, a village on the right bank of the Seine river near Paris, and a popular Sunday-outing destination for Parisians, where he painted some of his best-known works. In 1873, Monet purchased a small boat equipped to be used as a floating studio. From the boat studio Monet painted landscapes and also portraits of Édouard Manet and his wife. Manet in turn depicted Monet painting aboard the boat, accompanied by Camille, in 1874.

As Monet's garden expanded, he hired six full-time employees to tend to it. One gardener's job was to paddle a boat onto the pond each morning, washing and dusting each lily pad. Once the lilies were clean, Monet began painting them.

Camille Doncieux, Monet's wife, posed for many of his paintings, including "The Woman in the Green Dress", "On the Bank of the Siene", and "Woman with a Parasol". She did NOT pose for "The Road to Chailly".

Shortly after the birth of his first son, Monet and his family were living in poverty. His father, disapproving of his relationship and career, had cut him off financially. Struggling to support his family and frustrated by the French art establishment, Monet attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge into the Seine River. While he survived and went on to have a successful career, Monet would continue to struggle with bouts of depression throughout his life.

During World War I, in which his younger son Michel served and his friend and admirer Georges Clemenceau led the French nation, Monet painted a series of weeping willow trees as homage to the French fallen soldiers.