Claude Monet Foundation

Monet is certainly one of France's most renowned artists. One of the founders of Impressionism, it was his painting titled Impression, Sunrise (at the Musée Marmottan) that gave the movement its name. A brilliant innovator, he excelled at presenting the effects of light at different times of the day. His paintings of the Rouen cathedral and of water lilies are just a few of his masterpieces.

Monet was born in Le Havre 1840. His career flowed along the path of the Seine River -- as a young man, he lived in Paris before leaving the bustling city for the suburbs, then the town of Vernon before finally settling in Giverny. Once here, Monet barely left, preferring to stay in his peaceful gardens. However, many of his friends came to visit him here at Le Pressoir, including Clemenceau, Cézanne, Rodin, Renoir, Degas, and Sisley. When Monet died in 1926, his son, Michel, inherited the house, but left it abandoned until it decayed. The gardens became almost a jungle, inhabited by river rats. In 1966, Michel died and left the property to the Académie des Beaux Arts. It wasn't until 1977 that Gerald van der Kemp, who restored Versailles, decided to work on Giverny.

Unfortunately, you won't find any original Monet paintings at the foundation; however, you can stroll the garden and view the thousands of flowers, including the nymphéas. The Japanese bridge, hung with wisteria, leads to a setting of weeping willows and rhododendrons. Monet's studio barge was installed on the pond.

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