Guided tour · One artist · Paris · Giverny · 1840–1926

Claude Monet

Eleven paintings in the order he made them: the sea, Camille, grainstacks, a cathedral, London fog and his pond.

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Works

11

Time

about 17 min

Collections

7

About this tour

Claude Monet painted out of doors, chasing light and weather. His Impression, Sunrise gave Impressionism its name. Here are eleven of his paintings from seven museums, in the order he made them. At every work, look first, then discover.

We begin on the Normandy coast in 1864. Monet is 23.

The 11 works

1. 

   Work 1 of 11

   The Seashore at Sainte-Adresse

   Claude Monet · 1864 · Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis

   What is out on the water?

   A rowing boat with three people, and two sailing boats: each made with a few quick strokes.

   Sainte-Adresse lies next to Le Havre, the port where Monet grew up. On this coast he learned to paint out of doors.

2. 

   Work 2 of 11

   Bazille and Camille (Study for "Déjeuner sur l'Herbe")

   Claude Monet · 1865 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   How did Monet paint the man's eye?

   With a single dab of pale blue paint. He is looking at the woman.

   He is Monet's friend, the painter Frédéric Bazille. She is Camille Doncieux, who later married Monet. The picnic picture was never finished.

3. 

   Work 3 of 11

   The Cradle – Camille with the Artist's Son Jean

   Claude Monet · 1867 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   What is the baby holding?

   A toy: a little white drum on an orange stick, with what may be feathers on top. A pinwheel lies across his legs.

   Jean was born in August 1867. His parents were not yet married; they married three years later.

4. 

   Work 4 of 11

   Camille on the Beach in Trouville

   Claude Monet · 1870 · Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

   Behind Camille, who is playing by the sea?

   A young boy with a woman, at the water's edge as a wave rolls in.

   That July, war broke out between France and Prussia. In the autumn Monet left for London.

5. 

   Work 5 of 11

   Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son

   Claude Monet · 1875 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   What is blowing across Camille's face?

   A veil, fluttering in the breeze: just a few long strokes of white paint.

   Monet painted her from below, against a sunny sky. Their son Jean stands behind her, in the tall grass.

6. 

   Work 6 of 11

   Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt, Winter Effect

   Claude Monet · 1880 · Paris Musées, Paris

   Find the sun. Where else does it appear?

   In the water below, as a reflection. Its intense colour stands out against the cold blue all around.

   Lavacourt lies across the Seine from Vétheuil, where Monet lived from 1878 to 1881.

7. 

   Work 7 of 11

   Grainstack, Sun in the Mist

   Claude Monet · 1891 · Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis

   What does the light do around the grainstack?

   It forms a glowing halo. This is an autumn dawn, as the sun burns off the rising mist.

   Monet painted these stacks near his house again and again, in changing light. Up close: a patchwork of broken strokes.

8. 

   Work 8 of 11

   The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light

   Claude Monet · 1894 · J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

   Is the stone of the portal smooth?

   Not at all. The paint is as thick and crusty as the old stone itself.

   He made thirty views of the cathedral. This one he began in a dressmaker's shop opposite. "Everything changes, even stone," he wrote.

9. 

   Work 9 of 11

   The Japanese Footbridge

   Claude Monet · 1899 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   What floats on the pond under the bridge?

   Water lilies, pink and yellow, in bands that zigzag into the distance.

   Monet designed this garden himself. He signed the painting in the lower right corner: "Claude Monet 99".

10. 

    Work 10 of 11

    The Houses of Parliament, Seagulls

    Claude Monet · 1903 · Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton

    What is flying over the river?

    Seagulls: a few quick strokes against the glowing fog.

    Monet painted Parliament from St Thomas' Hospital, across the Thames, and finished the pictures at home in Giverny.

11. 

    Work 11 of 11

    Water Lilies (Agapanthus)

    Claude Monet · about 1915–26 · Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland

    Find the flowers in bloom.

    A few blossoms glow among the leaves. There is no bank and no horizon: only water.

    For his last thirty years, Monet painted the garden he had designed at Giverny. On this huge canvas, the pond seems endless.

The end of the tour

The same place, never the same light.

Monet painted the same grainstack, the same cathedral and the same pond again and again, because the light was never the same twice. He died at Giverny in 1926, aged 86.

Questions at the end

Start this tour in Auriaan

Works from these collections

• Minneapolis Institute of Art
• National Gallery of Art
• Yale University Art Gallery
• Paris Musées
• J. Paul Getty Museum
• Princeton University Art Museum
• Cleveland Museum of Art

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