Claude Monet

Claude Monet (1840–1926) was a French artist whose painting Impression, Sunrise (exhibited in 1874) gave rise to the name of a whole new artistic movement. He was the most consistent and prolific practitioner of Impressionism's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature and stressed the importance of working en plein air (outdoor). He pioneered the idea of painting the same scene at different times of the day and different seasons of the year, so as to capture the changing effects of light and natural surroundings. Among the best known of his series are the Rouen Cathedral and the Water Lilies