Claude monet b. Nov. 14, 1840, Paris, Fr. d. Dec. 5, 1926, Giverny French painter, artist who was the initiator, leader, and unswerving advocate of theImpressionist style. In his mature works, Monet developed his method of producing several studies of the same motif in series, changing canvases with the light or as his interest shifted. These "series" were generally dated and were frequently exhibited in groups--for example, "Haystacks" (1891) and "Rouen Cathedral" (1894). At his home in Giverny, Monet created the water-lily pond that served as inspiration for his "Nymphéas" paintings Edouard manet Jan. 23, 1832, Paris, France d. April 30, 1883, Paris French painter and printmaker who in his own work accomplished the transition from the realism of Gustave Courbet to Impressionism. Manet broke new ground in choosing subjects from the events and appearances of his own time and in stressing the definition of painting as the arrangement of paint areas on a canvas over and above its function as representation. Exhibited in 1863 at the Salon des Refusés, his "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" ("Luncheon on the Grass") aroused the hostility of the critics and the enthusiasm of a group of young painters who later formed the nucleus of the Impressionists. His other notable works include "Olympia" (1863) and "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" Eugene boudin b. July 12, 1824, Honfleur, France d. Aug. 8, 1898, Deauville one of the first French landscape painters to paint in the open air, directly from nature. His many beach scenes directly link the carefully observed naturalism of the early 19th century and the brilliant light and fluid brushwork of late 19thcentury Impressionism. Encouraged at an early age by the French landscape artist Jean-François Millet, Boudin studied briefly in Paris, where he became enamoured of the paintings of JeanBaptiste-Camille Corot. Back on the Atlantic coast in 1853, Boudin began to paint the sea, his lifelong passion, making careful annotations on the backs of his paintings of the weather, the light, and the time of day. In 1858 he met Claude Monet, then only 18 years old, and persuaded him to become a landscape painter, helping to instill in him a love of bright hues and the play of light on water later evident in Monet's Impressionist paintings. Boudin exhibited with the Impressionists in 1874 but was not an innovator, and from 1875 onward he exhibited in the official Salon. Although his beach scenes sold well, he received little recognition until 1888, when the French government began to buy a few of his works for the Luxembourg Gallery. He eventually was generally recognized as a master and in 1892, when he was 68 years old, received the Legion of Honour. Salon d’autumne (French: Autumn Salon), exhibition of the works of young artists held every fall in Paris since 1903. The Salon was established when modern artists who were not accepted by the conservative, official Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts decided to form their own organization with the aims of welcoming any artist who wished to join, selecting a jury for exhibitions by drawing straws from the new group's membership,