Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926) was a French Impressionist painter. The term Impressionism is derived from the title of his painting Impression, Sunrise.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Monet began "series" painting: paintings of one subject in varying light and weather conditions. His first series was of Rouen Cathedral from different points of view and at different times of the day. Twenty views of the cathedral were exhibited at the Durand-Ruel in 1895. He also painted a series of paintings of haystacks at different times of day.

Water Lily Pond (Le bassin aux Nympheas) (1899). Monet was exceptionally fond of painting controlled nature: his own garden in Giverny, with its water lilies, pond and bridge. He also painted up and down the banks of the Seine.