Postcard Monet - The Water Lilies: Morning (detail)

Claude Monet (1840-1926) grew up in Le Havre where he painted landscapes of nature. After a stay in Paris, he moved to Argenteuil in 1872 where Renoir, Sisley, Manet, Pissarro and Caillebote joined him. Together, they organized an exhibition of the works denied by the Official Salon in 1874 where Monet presented 'Impression, rising sun'. The artist became leader of the Impressionnist art movement destined to capture natural light rather than trying to represent reality at its best. In 1883 he moved to Giverny, his place of creation and his artwork where he dedicated himself to painting his pond. He painted twelve artworks of the white water lilys as only subject for 10 years. At 49, the artist finally found success when he is acclaimed by the critics during a retrospective devoted to him by the gallery Petit.