Claude Monet

Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.
     - Zig Ziglar -

Claude Monet was a founder and central figure of the 19th century art movement known as Impressionism. Early in his career, he painted realistic landscapes. In the 1870s, he focused more on the effect of changing light on everyday objects. In 1906, he purchased some property and built a large garden that became the subject of his Water Lilies series.

Today, Monet's work sells for millions of dollars and hangs in some of the most presigious institutions in the world. Yet during his own time, it was mocked and rejected by the artistic elite, the Paris Salon. Monet kept at his impressionist style. He believed in himself and in his work. When it caught on, it served as a conduit for major changes in art, ushering in the modern era.