Monet: Impressionism Triumphed

Claude Monet (1840–1926) was the only artist, apart from J. M. W. Turner, who made the same efforts to capture light itself on canvas. Among all of the Impressionists, Monet was the one Cézanne referred to as “only an eye, but my God what an eye!”, and he remained true to the principle of absolute fidelity to visual sensation, painting directly from the object. It can be said that Monet reinvented the possibilities of color. Whether it was through his early interest in Japanese prints, his time as a conscript in the dazzling light of Algeria, or his personal acquaintance with the major painters of the late 19th century, Monet's work throughout his long life forever changed the way we perceive the natural world and its attendant phenomena.

The culmination of his explorations was the late series of water lilies, painted in his own garden at Giverny, which, in their approach toward almost total formlessness, are really the origin of abstract art. This biography does full justice to this most remarkable and profoundly influential artist and offers numerous reproductions and archive photos alongside a detailed and insightful commentary.

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