Women In the Garden: A Painting by Claude Monet
The four women are actually the same woman painted four times
Claude Monet (1840–1926) was the leader of the Impressionist group of painters, which took its name from one of his paintings (“Impression, Sunrise” painted in 1872). His “Women in the Garden” is of an earlier date, 1866–7, but it is notable for displaying Monet’s lifelong fascination with the effects of light and the way that it changes the colours of what one sees. That is the essence of Impressionism, which Monet and his fellow artists were to develop in the years ahead.
Monet spent the summer of 1866 at Ville d’Avray near Paris, renting a house with his mistress Camille Doncieux, and it was in the garden of that house that he conceived and painted most of “Women in the Garden”. All the four women in the painting are Camille, in different poses and wearing differently coloured and patterned dresses. However, the faces of the women are not well defined, as they are not intended to be portraits.
Monet preferred to paint in the open air as much as possible, which is how he was able to observe the effects of light and shade so accurately, but the painting in question was completed in his studio over the winter.
