Collection: Art prints by Claude Monet

Claude Monet was a French painter and is considered one of the founders and most important representatives of Impressionism. He grew up in Le Havre and began his artistic career with caricatures, which he sold successfully as a teenager. Against his family's wishes, he decided to study art and went to Paris in the early 1860s, where he worked at the Académie Suisse and made contact with artists such as Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Together with them, he resolutely opposed the academic conventions of official Salon painting.

Monet developed a strong interest in open-air painting early on. He did not want to idealize nature, but rather capture the immediate impression of a moment. He focused on light, atmosphere and the effect of color, while clear contours and detailed elaboration became less important. This new approach to painting initially led to fierce criticism and financial difficulties. However, the first Impressionist group exhibition in 1874, in which Monet played a key role, marked a turning point in art history.

From the 1880s onwards, Monet's financial situation gradually stabilized and he was able to devote himself increasingly freely to his artistic research. A central feature of his late work is the serial painting cycles in which he painted a motif again and again under different light and weather conditions. This way of working shows his deep interest in perception and temporality. The series of grain stacks, poplars and Rouen Cathedral in particular illustrate his consistent preoccupation with seeing itself.

In 1890, Monet settled permanently in Giverny, where he created a large garden with a water lily pond, which served as his most important source of inspiration until the end of his life. The monumental water lily paintings of his late work are characterized by an increasingly free, almost abstract style of painting. Despite increasing visual problems due to cataracts, Monet continued to work into old age, adapting his color palette and technique to the changed conditions of perception.

Claude Monet died in 1926, but left behind an oeuvre of enormous influence. His radical concentration on light, color and subjective perception paved the way for numerous modernist movements, including Expressionism and abstract painting. Today, his works are considered icons of art history and are central components of the collections of major museums worldwide as well as being of extraordinary value on the international art market.