Biography
A founding member of the Impressionist movement in the late 1800s, Claude Monet was interested in direct observation and perceptual study, particularly depicting the effects of light and shadow on color. A proponent of en plein air painting, Monet is most famous for his series depicting haystacks (1891), poplars (1892), the Rouen Cathedral (1894), and water lilies (1910-20). In each series, Monet painted the same site repeatedly, recording how the appearance changed as the light shifted. His final mural-sized paintings depicting the pond on his Giverny estate feature water lilies and water emerging from almost-abstract compositions of broad strokes of bright color and intricately built-up textures. Shortly after Monet died at age 86, the French government installed his last water-lilies series in specially constructed galleries at the Orangerie in Paris, where they remain today.
