The Surprising Self-Doubts of One of the Most Famous in Artists in History

Tenacity and triumph from a creative life

Water Lily Pond (1900) by Claude Monet. Oil on canvas. 89.8 × 101 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Image Source

Self-doubt can haunt the lives of creative people.

Artists from history suffered from this impediment as much as any modern-day creative. Even the most famous painters frequently found their progress stifled by commercial frustration and critical condemnation.

Such was the case with the French Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Despite his now-celebrated status, Monet long wrestled with the uncertain prospect of creative survival and recognition.

So how did he end up becoming one of the world’s most famous artists?

Nearly giving up

Claude Monet painting in his studio boat (1874) by Édouard Manet. Oil on canvas. 80 × 98 cm. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany. Image Source

Here is a wonderful depiction of Monet working on board a small riverboat, converted into an artist’s studio.

The image perfectly captures the outdoor approach of the Impressionist artists: it shows the painter at work under a blue sky, upon a waterway jostling with ultramarine ripples, painting the world as the eye experiences it — shaped by the immediate and sometimes dazzling sensation of…