Why is Monet seen as a working-class simpleton and a peasant?

Question

In fact, he was the son of a successful tradesmen in the marine supplies business and grew up with a suburban upper middle class lifestyle. He was also educated at various art schools and immediately accepted by the artistic elite, outside of the the Parisian Ecole des Artes. He also made a lot of money during his tenure as an artist and owned several properties including a large ranch and travelled extensively throughout Japan, England, Belgium and France. He also served in the French army and sailed extensively, and enjoyed gardening and horsebackriding.

Answer 1

I'm actually not familiar with that view of Monet. His art, however, was more-or-less deliberately unintellectual, so I can see how it would support such a reading. Perhaps this is a matter of others inferring from the simple, populist nature of his paintings a simple and populist painter -- which he clearly, as you have demonstrated, was not.

Answer 2

I've never heard anything like that. He was a genius!

Answer 3

I am not sure I've ever heard that supposition.