A central figure among the French Impressionists, Claude Monet (18401926) devoted himself to capturing on canvas the nuances of light's play in nature. Sometimes working on multiple canvases simultaneously to capture light before it shifted, Monet often found his self-appointed task incredibly frustrating. Yet he produced some of modern art's greatest paintings and inspired his contemporaries. Among Monet's twelve oil paintings reproduced here are Grainstack (Snow Effect); La Japonaise (Camille Monet in Japanese Costume); Grand Canal, Venice; and Morning on the Seine, near Giverny.
