Oscar-Claude Monet (Paris, November 14, 1840-Giverny, December 5, 1926) was a French painter, one of the creators of Impressionism. The term impressionism derives from the title of his work Impression, nascent sun (1872). His first works, until the mid-1860s, are realistic. Monet managed to exhibit some at the Paris Salon. From the end of the 1860s he began to paint Impressionist works. This deviation from the taste of the time, which was marked by art academies, worsened their economic situation while reinforcing their decision to continue on that hazardous path. In the 1870s he was part of the Impressionist exhibitions in which Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas also participated. His work Impression, nascent sun was part of Salon des Refusés of 1874. His career was promoted by the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, but despite this his financial situation remained difficult until the mid-1890s. In this era, Monet developed the concept of «series», in which a motif is painted repeatedly with different lighting. At the same time he began to work in the famous garden of his house in Giverny with ponds of water lilies that he later used as motive for his paintings.