Monet: The Early Years; Yale University Press, 2017

This elegant volume is the first to be devoted to the young genius of Claude Monet (1840–1926). Bringing together the greatest paintings from his early career—including his first Salon-exhibited work, the Kimbell Art Museum’s La Pointe de la Hиve at Low Tide; Dйjeuner sur l’Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) and The Magpie from the Musйe d’Orsay; and The Green Wave and La Grenouillиre from the Metropolitan Museum of Art—it features essays by distinguished scholars, focusing on the evolution of Monet’s own distinctive mode of painting. Through the 1860s, the young painter absorbed and transformed a variety of influences, from the lessons of the Barbizon school and his mentor Boudin to the challenges posed by his friends Manet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. Artistic innovation and personal ambition shaped the work of the celebrated impressionist painter from the very start of his long and illustrious career.