4 famous artists who died in poverty

1. Claude Monet

Claude Monet is one of the leading and most recognized artists of the Impressionist movement, which rejected the conventions of art during the 19th century. His paintings explored brightness, color and shadow, and were even criticized for appearing “unfinished”.

Interestingly, the term Impressionism comes from Monet's painting entitled “Impression, Sun Rise”, which was exposed in 1874. Even so, his works were considered “formless and beautiful, ” leaving the artist in an extremely dire situation. poverty for much of your life.

2. Edgar Allan Poe

During his four decades of life, Edgar Allan Poe has done incredible work as an author, poet, editor and literary critic. Even though he is still acknowledged for his mystery stories to this day, in addition to being considered the inventor of the crime fiction genre, Poe's life was as troubled as his works.

Unfortunately, his writing did not leave him in favorable financial condition. "The Crow, " one of his best-known works, earned him only $ 9 in his publication.

3. Franz Kafka

Regarded by critics as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Franz Kafka died a complete stranger. Only a few of his works were published during his lifetime, such as the collection of short stories "Considerations" and the tale "The Metamorphosis."

In 1924, at an advanced stage of tuberculosis, the writer starved to death: his throat was so sore that eating was extremely painful.

After his death, Max Brod, a close friend, ignored Kafka's request and published other of his works.

4. Henry David Thoreau

Known for his book "Walden", Henry Thoreau contributed his works on natural history and philosophy, writing that mixed observations, personal experience and historical data.

Even though his works are widely recognized, at the time, Henry had to take money from his own pocket to get them published. Unfortunately, he was only able to edit two volumes before his death - which were not well received by the public. Thus, it ended up as a stranger in the literary world.