Reading B My History—Claude Monet by Himself

Thiébault-Sisson

I am a Parisian of Paris. I was born in 1840, under the reign of the good king Louis-Philippe, which was an epoch centered on business interests and in which the Arts were regarded with real derision. As it was, my childhood was spent at Le Havre where my father had settled in 1845 in order to better pursue his own business interests, and as it happened, this childhood of mine, was essentially one of freedom. I was born undisciplinable. No one was ever able to make me stick to the rules, not even in my youngest days. It was at home that I learned most of what I have known now. I equated my college life with that of a prison and I could never resolve to spend my time there, even for four hours a day when the sun was shinning bright, the sea was so beautiful and it was so good to run along the cliff-tops in the fresh air or frolic in the sea.

Up until the age of fourteen or fifteen, much to my father's great disappointment, I continued this very irregular but healthy way of life. Somehow, in between, I did acquire the rudiments of a basic education including some proficiency at spelling. My studies went no further and did not cause me too much trouble, as I was able to interweave them with a number of distractions. I ornamented the margins of my text books, I decorated the blue paper of my exercise books with ultra fantastic designs and represented in the most irreverent manner possible, the features of my masters—either drawing their faces in front view or in profile.

I became very quickly adept at this game. At fifteen, I was known by the whole of Le Havre as a caricaturist. My reputation was so well established that I was commissioned by everyone for these types of portraits. It was in effect, in consideration of the sheer number of commissions that I received as well as the insufficiency of the allowance that I received from my mother, that prompted the audacious decision that I made to charge a fee for my portraits. this of course, scandalized my family. I would charge ten to twenty francs depending on whether I liked the look of my clients or not and this method worked extremely well. In a month, the number of clients had doubled and I was able to charge a fixed rate of twenty francs without reducing the demand. Had I continued this way, I would be a millionaire today!

Thus, by this means, I became someone of importance in the town. there, along the shop front of the only framers in business at Le Havre, were my caricatures, insolently sprawled-out in groups of five or six, to be seen in full in little gold frames, under glass like real works of art. Moreover, when I saw strollers gathering to gap at them with admiration and cry “It is so and so! ”, I was bursting with pride.

I should say, however, that there was a flaw to this otherwise perfect situation. There was often, in this same shop window, hanging just above my own works, a number of maritime scenes that I found, along with most of the inhabitants of Le Havre, revolting. I was so vexed at having to endure this enforced contact, that I did not try to slander this idiot who, thinking himself an artist had dared to sign his works “Boudin”. For me, who had been used to Gudin's seascapes—with their arbitrary colorations, false touches and invented perspectives so much in use by fashionable artists at the time—Boudin's sincere little compositions with his correctly delineated little figures, his pleasant boats, his ever so perfect skies and water, drawn and painted only from nature, held no artistic value for me. His fidelity seemed suspect. Hence, his paintings inspired me with a terrible aversion and without even having met the man, I disliked him intensely. Often, the framer would say:“You should meet Mister Boudin. Despite what is said about him, he is a professional who knows his work. He studied in Paris at the Academy Beaux-Arts. He could give you some useful advice.”

But I resisted, dug my heels in. What could I possibly learn from such a ridiculous fellow?

Despite myself, however, the day did arrive when fate thrusted me into Boudin's presence. He was at the back of the shop and I had not noticed him as I entered. The framer immediately took the opportunity to introduce me saying: “See here, Mister Boudin, this is the young man with so much talent for caricature! ” Boudin immediately coming towards me, complimented me with his gentle voice and said: “I always look at your sketches with pleasure; they are amusing, animated; they seem to have been done with ease. You have talent, one can see that straight away. But you are not, I hope, going to keep doing the same thing. It is very good for starting off, but you will get bored with just doing caricatures. Study, learn to look, paint and draw. Do some landscapes. It is so beautiful, the sea and sky, animals, people and trees just as nature made them, with their characters, their true essence of being, in the light, within the atmosphere, just as things are.”

But Boudin's exhortations left no impression on me even if, after all, the man himself was agreeable to me. He was convinced, sincere. I could feel it, but I could not appreciate his paintings and when he offered to take me with him to paint outdoors in the open countryside, I always found a pretext and refused politely. But when summer came, I was more or less free to dispose of my time as I wished and I had no feasible excuse left to give him and gave in. thus it was, that Boudin—with his inexhaustible kindness—took it upon himself to educate me. With time, my eyes began to open and I really started to understand nature. I also leaned to love it. I would analyze its forms with my pencil. I would study its colorations. Six months later—notwithstanding my mother's objections who was seriously becoming worried about my frequentations of a man like Boudin, I squarely announced to my father, that I intended to become a painter and was moving to Paris to learn.

“You will not get a penny! ”

“I shall do without.”

● Vocabulary Challenge

Study the following suffixes: -er, -ist, and -ese. In Table 1, the suffix -er means “a person who does an action indicated by the root verb or a person whose occupation is (the noun)”. In Table 2, -ist means “a person with a particular creative or academic role”. In Table 3, -ese means “a native or inhabitant of a city, region, or country or the language related”.

Analyze the formation of the following words and write down their meanings. You may turn to the dictionary if necessary.

● Comprehension Check

1. Choose the most appropriate answer to each of the following questions.

(1) Why did Monet work as a caricaturist in his spare time at fifteen?

A. Because he had a good reputation as a well-behaved man.

B. Because his drawing enjoyed a great popularity and he did not have enough pocket money.

C. Because he had to make money from drawing to pay his school fee.

D. Because his family had a scandal.

(2) What does the word “game” in the first sentence of paragraph 3 mean?

A. Decorating the school books.

B. Playing along the cliff-tops and in the sea.

C. Drawing portraits.

D. Living an irregular but healthy way of life.

(3) What had Monet earned from being a caricaturist?

A. He became some kind of celebrity in the town he lived.

B. He became a millionaire by making money from drawing portraits.

C. He opened a shop selling caricatures.

D. His caricatures were admired by the all the people in the town.

(4) In the fifth paragraph, what was the “flaw” in Monet's eyes?

A. Some idiot signed “Boudin” on the paintings above Monet's works.

B. His works were accompanied by some other person's paintings which he regarded as unpleasant.

C. He disliked the layout of the works in the shop window.

D. the shop keeper made a mistake hanging his caricatures at a wrong place.

(5) What did Boudin suggest Monet do when they met for the first time?

A. Make his sketches interesting and lively.

B. Carry on his career as a caricaturist.

C. Observe the sea, the sky, animals, people and trees carefully.

D. Paint some natural scenery.

(6) What persuaded Monet to do landscape painting though he refused it at first?

A. Monet's admiration to Boudin and his paintings persuaded him.

B. the possession of much spare time enabled Monet to do outdoor painting.

C. Monet was born with the love of nature.

D. Boudin's constant advice and Monet's growing understanding about nature persuaded him.

2. Fill in the blanks with the words from the box.

Born in Paris to a grocer, Claude Monet moved at the age of five to Le Havre, a (1) _____town in northern France. The ocean and rugged (2) _____of the region had a profound effect on him at an early age, and he would often run away from school to go for walks along the (3)_____ and beaches. Creative and enterprising from an early age, he drew (4)_____ in his spare time and sold them for 20 francs (5)_____ . By the time he was fifteen Monet had become popular as a (6)_____ . Through a/an (7)_____ of his drawings at a/an (8) _____frame shop in 1858, Monet met Eugène Boudin, a (9)_____ painter who became a great influence on the young artist. Boudin (10) _____Monet to outdoor painting, an activity that soon became his life's work.