Claude Monet (1840-1926) is known as the archetypal Impressionist painter, a name acquired from one of his paintings (Impression: Sunrise). The Impressionist movement was born out of a desire to record visual reality in terms of the transient effects of light and color. Monet was more interested than most in the effects of light, often painting a single image many times as it was transformed by atmospheric changes. The most recognized of these series, devoted to the cathedral at Rouen, is on display at the Musee dOrsay in Paris. The artists former home (Fondation Claude Monet) and gardens at Giverny, depicted in many of his paintings, are open to the public.
