Claude Monet was 86 years old when he died in 1926.
He was born on 14 November 1840 and died on 5 December 1926, so he had already passed his 86th birthday. Monet’s unusually long career included major changes in subject, technique, and artistic reputation, from caricatures made in Le Havre to large late paintings of water lilies.
During his lifetime, Monet experienced both rejection and international success. His early Impressionist works challenged the polished academic style favored by official French exhibitions, but his repeated studies of haystacks, cathedrals, poplars, and water became central examples of modern painting.
A common mistake is to calculate his age as 85 by subtracting the years alone. Because his birthday was in November and his death was in December, the calendar dates confirm that he was 86.