Waterlilies and Japanese Bridge

Claude Monet was a pioneering French painter and a central figure in the Impressionist movement—a style he helped to define through his dedication to capturing the fleeting effects of light, colour, and atmosphere. Born in Paris in 1840 and raised in Le Havre, Monet showed an early interest in drawing and went on to study art formally in Paris, though he often rejected the academic conventions of the time in favour of painting directly from nature.

Monet’s breakthrough came with his 1872 painting Impression, Sunrise, which would later give the Impressionist movement its name. His approach, characterised by loose brushwork, bright colours, and a focus on everyday scenes, marked a radical departure from traditional landscape painting. He worked outdoors, or en plein air, striving to depict the world as he saw it in the moment—whether it was a foggy morning on the Thames, a windswept field of poppies, or the vibrant reflections in a water lily pond.

Later in life, Monet settled in the village of Giverny, where he cultivated a vast and carefully designed garden that became the focus of some of his most celebrated work. His Water Lilies series, along with his studies of haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, and the Japanese bridge in his garden, reveal his obsession with light, time, and the act of looking itself.

Monet’s work is now considered foundational to modern art. His influence can be seen far beyond Impressionism, in movements such as Abstract Expressionism and contemporary landscape painting. Today, his paintings are held in major collections around the world, admired for their lyrical beauty and their groundbreaking role in reshaping how we see and depict the natural world.