The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil (1874)

In this painting, Claude Monet captures a peaceful family moment in the garden of his home in Argenteuil, a suburban town near Paris. His wife Camille, their son Jean, and their dog are depicted amidst the vibrant greenery of the garden, with the bright sunlight illuminating the scene. The clear, precise details show Monet’s early approach to realism, before he fully embraced the Impressionist style. The structured composition and separation of elements reflect the influence of traditional landscape painting. This work, created during the summer of 1874, also marks a key moment in Monet’s career as he was developing his distinctive technique of capturing natural light and atmosphere.

Camille Monet on a Garden Bench (1873)

This painting shows Claude Monet’s wife, Camille, sitting in the garden of their home in Argenteuil. Surrounded by colorful flowers, Camille looks deep in thought, her posture and expression suggesting a quiet sadness. While the garden feels peaceful, there’s an emotional weight to the scene, reflecting personal challenges Monet and Camille were going through, including the recent death of her father. Monet’s soft brushstrokes capture both the beauty of the garden and the hidden emotions of the moment, showing his growing skill in using light to express feelings.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1873

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 23 7/8 x 31 5/8 in. (60.6 x 80.3 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 2002, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002

Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies (1899)

This iconic painting shows a Japanese-style bridge spanning over a pond filled with water lilies in Monet’s garden at Giverny. The bridge, surrounded by lush greenery and vibrant flowers, is reflected in the still water, creating a peaceful, almost dreamlike scene. Monet’s loose brushwork and rich colors capture the beauty of nature in a new way, focusing on light, reflections, and the changing colors of the water. By removing any clear horizon line, Monet invites viewers to immerse themselves fully in the scene, blurring the boundaries between land, water, and sky. This work marks a key moment in Monet’s artistic evolution, where he moved away from realistic landscapes to more abstract, emotional expressions of nature.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1899

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 36 1/2 x 29 in. (92.7 x 73.7 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929

Water Lilies: Reflections of a Weeping Willow (1916-19)

Monet created a pond filled with water lilies in his garden at Giverny in 1893. Starting in 1899, he painted the pond many times, capturing its changing light, reflections, and the lilies floating on the water. By the time Monet painted this series in the late 1910s, his style had changed. The water-lily pond became a place for him to explore a new, more fluid way of painting. In these works, Monet moved away from realistic depictions, focusing on color and light to create almost abstract scenes that invite the viewer to experience the beauty of nature in a fresh and exciting way.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1916–19

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 51 1/4 x 79 in. (130.2 x 200.7 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Louise Reinhardt Smith, 1983

Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond (center panel)

The center panel of this triptych is the most luminous, filled with glowing lily pads in shades of violet, green, and amethyst. These float serenely on the water, which mirrors soft, pastel clouds in pink, peach, and pale yellow. The colors blend and swirl across the surface, creating a shimmering effect that makes it feel as though light itself is dancing on the water. The absence of a horizon line heightens this sense of immersion, drawing the viewer fully into the scene. Monet captures the fleeting beauty of the moment, blending the natural world with the soft reflections of the sky above, pushing the composition toward abstraction. The left panel deepens into darker shades, while the right is consumed by vibrant vegetation. This dense, dreamlike composition reflects Monet’s focus on light, color, and atmosphere, blurring the lines between land, water, and sky. After Monet’s death, twenty-two panels of this series were installed on curved walls in the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, a gift to the French nation.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1914–26

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 6′ 6 3/4″ x 13′ 11 1/4″

Classification: Painting

Credit Line: Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund

 Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer) 1890/91

This painting is part of Claude Monet’s Stacks of Wheat series, created near his home in Giverny. The large stacks, standing 15 to 20 feet tall, show the changing seasons. In this painting, the stacks rise into the sky, capturing the feeling of the end of summer. Monet painted these stacks both outdoors and in his studio, focusing on light and color. In 1891, he displayed 15 of these works in Paris, where they were a huge success. This exhibition marked a turning point in Monet’s career and in the history of French art. The Art Institute of Chicago has the largest collection of Monet’s Stacks of Wheat.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Place: France (Artist’s nationality: French)

Date:1890-1891

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 60 × 100.5 cm ; Framed: 75.6 × 116.6 × 7.4 cm

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Wood, Sr. in memory of Pauline Palmer Wood

Haystacks (Effect of Snow and Sun) 1890/91

In this painting, Monet captures a winter scene, focusing on the haystacks covered in snow, with soft light reflecting off the white surface. The colors are cooler and lighter, with the snow blending into the landscape, creating a peaceful, quiet mood. Between 1890 and 1891, Claude Monet painted around thirty works featuring haystacks in a field near his home in Giverny. This painting is part of that series, which explores how light and weather change the appearance of the haystacks at different times of the day and year. Compared to his Stacks of Wheat series, which shows the warm golden light of summer, this painting feels calm and still. Monet’s brushstrokes are softer here, emphasizing the changing effects of light in the winter landscape. This piece is part of Monet’s series on haystacks, where he explored how different times of day and seasons changed the way the stacks looked.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1891

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 25 3/4 x 36 1/4 in. (65.4 x 92.1 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929

Poppy Fields near Argenteuil (1875)

This painting is one of four views of the plain of Gennevilliers, located just southeast of Monet’s home in Argenteuil. He painted this scene in the summer of 1875, revisiting a subject he had first explored two years earlier in Poppies near Argenteuil (Musée d’Orsay, Paris). In Poppy Fields near Argenteuil, Monet captures the vibrant red poppies that cover the fields, creating a lively and colorful scene. The loose brushstrokes and emphasis on light and color reflect Monet’s growing interest in capturing the natural beauty of the landscape. This work is a beautiful example of his impressionistic style, where he focused on the feeling and atmosphere of a moment rather than precise details.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1875

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 21 1/4 x 29 in. (54 x 73.7 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 2001, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002

Garden at Sainte-Adresse (1867)

Monet painted this lively, sunlit scene during a summer spent with his family at the seaside resort of Sainte-Adresse, near Le Havre. The painting shows a terrace filled with bright flowers, with his father and other relatives enjoying the outdoors. The sky, sea, and garden are divided into three bold horizontal bands of color, creating a strong, graphic composition. Monet’s use of vibrant greens, blues, and reds gives the scene a sense of warmth and energy, while the figures in the foreground add to the feeling of leisure and relaxation. His elevated viewpoint and simplified forms show the influence of Japanese prints, which Monet admired for their use of color and composition. This work was first shown in 1879 at the fourth Impressionist exhibition, marking an early example of Monet’s innovative style. The painting is a key moment in his transition from traditional realism to the impressionistic focus on light, color, and atmosphere.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1867

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 38 5/8 x 51 1/8 in. (98.1 x 129.9 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Purchase, special contributions and funds given or bequeathed by friends of the Museum, 1967

The Doge’s Palace Seen from San Giorgio Maggiore (1908)

Monet visited Venice for the first time in 1908, drawn by the city’s unique light. He painted this view of the Doge’s Palace from across the water on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The soft, glowing light bathes the palace, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Monet’s brushstrokes are loose and fluid, capturing the reflections of the building in the water with a gentle, blurred effect. The sky is soft and hazy, blending into the calm lagoon. The cool blues and greens of the water contrast with the warm golden tones of the palace, giving the scene a calm, dreamlike quality. Monet was so captivated by Venice that he wrote, “It’s so beautiful … I console myself with the thought of returning next year.” This piece was shown in Paris in 1912 and was praised for its ability to capture the changing light and mood of the city.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)

Date: 1908

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 25 3/4 x 36 1/2 in. (65.4 x 92.7 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, 1959