Oscar-Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), is known as the founder of French Impressionist painting: an art movement dedicated to expressing one's perceptions of nature, mainly in landscape painting. The term "Impressionism" is derived from the title of his painting "Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise)".
Monet would paint the same scene, changing with the seasons, in order to capture the changing of light and colors. From 1883, he lived in Giverny, where he painted his famous series of lily ponds in front of his house. In some (influenced by "Japonisme" like other painters of his time), he added a Japanese bridge as a central feature and in another painting, a young lady in kimono surrounded in Japanese fans.
Music: Gymnopedie No 3 by Wahneta Meixsell from YouTube Audio Library.
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