Monet's famous painting "Impression: Sunrise, Le Havre" represented the most innovative - and later most popular - art movement the world had ever seen, and its appeal endures today. Monet's experiments with light and colour are described in depth in this latest addition to our best-selling series, "The World's Greatest Art".

Organized into five sections on life, society, places, influences and techniques, the book enables the reader to consider Monet from different angles and contexts, providing a broader understanding of this great artist.

This generously illustrated volume on the work of Monet makes the world’s greatest art accessible to readers of every level of appreciation.

Monet’s dazzling depictions of flowers, sunsets, fields, and oceans, in which line and shape are suggested through pure color, changed the way we perceive our natural surroundings. His numerous series, in which he depicts the same object at varying times of the day and in different seasons, pushed the limits of representational art. His final series of water lilies are considered to have ushered in the abstract movement of the twentieth century. Overflowing with images, this book offers full-page spreads of masterpieces as well as highlights of smaller details, allowing every aspect of the artist’s technique and oeuvre to be appreciated. Chronologically arranged, the book covers important biographical and historic events that reflect the latest scholarship. Additional information includes a list of works, timeline, and suggestions for further reading.

Dreaming and relaxing, with Claude Monet's Impressionist designs, this beautiful new book will give you many hours of pleasure, and calm. Printed on high quality paper, there are 45 classic illustrations for you to colour, with suggestions too on how to start the colouring. This book will give you many hours of pleasure and calm, taking you on an enjoyable journey where the satisfaction of creating stunning artworks is mixed with rediscovering the joy of colouring. You can use a wide variety of pens: from gel and pencil, to pigment and crayons, from ballpoint and rollerball to highlighters, although it’s best to avoid the heavy felt pens. Each page is perforated near the spine of the book, so you can tear out and frame or simply place your wonderful creation on the walls of your home, perhaps even send them as a gift to your loved ones. Bring the Ink to life!

About the Author:

Daisy Seal is a talented, thoughtful writer of gift, celebration and puzzle books. She has long observed the intimate connections between the natural world around us and our search for the enduring spirit of humankind. Previous publications include "Inspirations", "Reflections", "Be Calm," and "Friendship".

A gorgeous new edition with the cover printed on silver. Towards the end of his life and much inspired by Japanese water gardens, Monet spent a great deal of time in his beloved Giverny. Adorned with poppies, blue sage, dahlias and irises, the waters were disturbed only by bamboos and water lilies. His water garden was originally created to satisfy a need to be near water, and to provide a visual feast that could be enjoyed from his house. 

The pond was fed by the river Ru, and weeping willow and silver birch hung over its edges, caressing the fronds of the greenery and blossoms below. Its famous green wooden footbridge was built across the water and it became the central focus of many of his works. He said, ‘It took me some time to understand my water lilies. I planted them for pleasure.’ and so he began to work on what is probably the most famous series of paintings the world has ever seen.

Part of a new series of beautiful gift art books, Claude Monet: Masterpieces of Art features all of the popular works of this insightful and experimental artist, from his first inklings as an Impressionist to his later flirtations with Abstract Expressionism. With a fresh and thoughtful introduction to the life and art of one of the most famous artists in the world, the book goes on to showcase his key works in all their glory.

No other artist, apart from J.M.W. Turner, tried as hard as Claude Monet (1840–1926) to capture light itself on canvas. Of all the Impressionists, it was the man Cézanne called “only an eye, but my God what an eye!” who stayed true to the principle of absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting directly from the object.

Prince of the Impressionists. Capturing the ever-changing face of reality

Hailed the Prince of the Impressionists, Claude Monet (1840 - 1926) transformed expectations for the purpose of paint on canvas. Defying the precedent of centuries, Monet did not seek to render only reality, but the act of perception itself. Working en plein air with rapid, impetuous brush strokes, he interrogated the play of light on the hues, patterns, and contours and the way in which these visual impressions fall upon the eye.

Monet's interest in this space between the motif and the artist encompassed too the ephemeral nature of each image we see. In his beloved water lily series, as well as in paintings of poplars, grain stacks, and the Rouen cathedral, he returned to the same motif in different seasons, different weather conditions, and at different times of the day, to explore the constant mutability of our visual environment.

This book offers the essential introduction to an artist whose works simultaneously reflected upon the purpose of a picture and the passage of time, and in so doing transformed irrevocably the story of art. 

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Towards the end of his life and much inspired by Japanese water gardens, Monet spent a great deal of time in his beloved Giverny. Adorned with poppies, blue sage, dahlias and irises, the waters were disturbed only by bamboos and water lilies. His water garden was originally created to satisfy a need to be near water, and to provide a visual feast that could be enjoyed from his house. The pond was fed by the river Ru, and weeping willow and silver birch hung over its edges, caressing the fronds of the greenery and blossoms below. Its famous green wooden footbridge was built across the water and it became the central focus of many of his works. He said, ‘It took me some time to understand my water lilies. I planted them for pleasure.’ and so he began to work on what is probably the most famous series of paintings the world has ever seen.

Master of the sublime. The essential Impressionist

No other artist, apart from J.M.W. Turner, tried as hard as Claude Monet (1840–1926) to capture light itself on canvas. Of all the Impressionists, it was the man Cézanne called “only an eye, but my God what an eye!” who stayed true to the principle of absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting directly from the object.

It could be said that Monet reinvented the possibilities of colour. Whether it was through his early interest in Japanese prints, his time as a conscript in the dazzling light of Algeria, or his personal acquaintance with the major painters of the late 19th century, the work Monet produced throughout his long life would change forever the way we perceive both the natural world and its attendant phenomena. The high point of his explorations was the late series of waterlilies, painted in his own garden at Giverny, which, in their approach toward almost total formlessness, are really the origin of abstract art.

This biography does full justice to this most remarkable and profoundly influential artist and offers numerous reproductions and archive photos alongside a detailed and insightful commentary.

The author:

Daniel Wildenstein (1917-2001) was an art historian and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Paris). From 1939 onwards, he was Director of the Wildenstein Galleries of New York, London and Tokyo. He edited several international journals, e.g. the magazine Arts from 1956-1962 and the Gazette des Beaux-Arts after 1963. He co-founded the Foundation Wildenstein in 1970 (it was renamed the Wildenstein Institute in 1984), and was a prime mover in many exhibitions of international repute. Daniel Wildenstein also edited the catalogues raisonnés of various 18th, 19th and 20th-century artists. He was a world authority on Impressionism and published catalogues of the works of Gauguin, Manet and Monet.

About the series:

Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!

Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together more than 100 of our all-time favourite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.

Bookworm’s delight — never bore, always excite!

Lasting impressions of nature. The most typical and the most individual Impressionist painter

Claude Monet (1840-1926) was the most typical and the most individual Impressionist painter. His long life he dedicated to a pictorial exploration of the sensations which reality, and in particular landscape, offers the human eye.

But while Monet the painter was faithful and persevering in the pursuit of his motifs, his personal life followed a more restless course. Parisian by birth, he discovered plein-air painting as a youth in the provinces, where one of his homes, Argenteuil, has come to represent the artistic flowering and official establishment of Impressionism as a movement, with Monet as its creative leader.

In his endeavor to capture the ever-changing face of reality, Monet went beyond Impressionism and thereby beyond the confines of self-contained panel painting: in Giverny he painted the Poplars, Grain Stacks and Rouen Cathedral series in which he addressed one motif in constantly new variations. Here, too, Monet laid out the famous garden with its water-lily pond which he was to paint on huge canvases well into the 1920s. He thereby sought to render not reality as objectively experienced, but rather that which takes place "between the motif and the artist." In their open, merely tenuously representational structure and impressive scale, Monet’s water lily paintings — created long before the currents of the contemporary avant-garde — point the way to the developments of the future.

About the Series:
Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art Series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions

The author:

Christoph Heinrich studied art history, theater, and German in Vienna and Munich, receiving his doctorate for his work on the changing concept of the monument in contemporary art. Since 1994, he has been employed at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, where he was appointed curator of the Galerie der Gegenwart in 1997. He is the author of numerous writings, and has organzied many exhibits on 20th-century and contemporary art.

Клод Моне — художник ясного дня, живописец неба, снега, отраженных в воде облаков, он первый живописец, который написал белым цветом монохромные картины. До самой старости, до поздних изображений пруда с белыми кувшинками он примешивал эту белую краску к чистым тонам, тем самым изгоняя из своей живописи глухой тон сумеречного интерьера.

Turner, Whistler and Monet were all fascinated by the transience of light and how that alone could affect the atmostphere of a painting. They were also highly experimental for their time, rejecting the use of realism in favour of creating the impression of place instead. This is a perfect gift book for any lover of art and co-incides with the Tate exhibition of the same name.

Master of the Sublime. The essential Impressionist

Along with Turner, no artist has sought more than Claude Monet (1840-1926) to capture light itself on canvas. Of all the Impressionists, it was the man Cézanne called "only an eye, but my God what an eye!" who stayed completely true to the principle of absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting directly from the object.

It could be said that Monet reinvented the possibilities of colour, and whether it was through his early interest in Japanese prints, his time in the dazzling light of Algeria as a conscript or his personal acquaintance with the major painters of the late 1800s, what Monet produced throughout his long life would change forever the way we perceive both the natural world and its attendant phenomena. The high point of his explorations were the late series of waterlilies, painted in his own garden at Giverny, that, in their moves towards almost total formlessness, are really the origin of abstract art.

This biography does full justice to this most remarkable and profoundly influential of artists and offers numerous reproductions and archive photos alongside a detailed and insightful commentary.

The author:

Daniel Wildenstein (1917-2001) was an art historian and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Paris). From 1939 onwards, he was Director of the Wildenstein Galleries of New York, London and Tokyo. He edited several international journals, e.g. the magazine Arts from 1956-1962 and the Gazette des Beaux-Arts after 1963. He co-founded the Fondation Wildenstein in 1970 (it was renamed the WildensteinInstitute in 1984), and was a prime mover in many exhibitions of international repute. Daniel Wildenstein also edited the catalogues raisonnés of various 18th, 19th and 20th-century artists. He was a world authority on Impressionism, and published catalogues of the works of Gauguin, Manet and Monet.

The Monet exhibition taking place in fall 2010 at the Grand Palais in Paris has caused an international sensation. In a rapturous review on the front page of The New York Times, Michael Kimmelman says that it gives us a sublime painter whose achievement places him in the company of artists who reveal the world with new vision. This catalogue offers a permanent record of this magnificent art exhibition. 

Claude Monet is one of the most beloved painters in the history of art. His work appeals both to the broad general public and to artists, who are moved and challenged by his achievement over a working life that spanned six decades. With more than 300 illustrations of Monet’s greatest works and accessible essays by leading art historians, this lush volume offers a vivid new perspective on the artist and his work.

Discover Venice in a splendid volume of masterpieces by artists such as Canaletto, William Turner, Paul Signac, and Claude Monet.

Thanks to its unique qualities — the beguiling interplay of light, water, and atmosphere — Venice was elevated to a magical “laboratory of perception” in the nineteenth century. Like many other artists, Claude Monet also sojourned in the city with its lagoons and islands, where he was inspired to create his famous Venice cycle in the autumn of 1908. His Venetian paintings mark a turning point in his work as he adopted an increasingly abstract pictorial vocabulary, demonstrating that Venice made a considerable, albeit little noted, contribution to the emancipation of painting, just as it was poised on the threshold of modernity.

This splendid volume, filled with large-format color illustrations, is the first to provide a comprehensive examination of Venice’s image in European and American painting of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At the center of this well-informed exploration is Monet’s Venice cycle, supplemented by masterpieces by his predecessors and contemporaries, ranging from Canaletto to Turner to Paul Signac.

Artists featured:

Canaletto, Francesco Guardi, J. M. William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pietro Fragiacomo, Odilon Redon, Paul Signac, Claude Monet

Strokes of genius: the magic of Monet!

Claude Monet (1840–1926) was both the most typical and the most individual painter associated with the Impressionist movement. His long life and extraordinary work were dedicated to a pictorial exploration of the sensations which reality, and in particular landscape, offer the human eye. Monet’s poplars, grain stacks, Rouen Cathedral, and waterlily paintings — among the most beloved works of the Impressionist period — were created long before the currents of the contemporary avant-garde and had an inestimable influence on the development of modern art. This book traces the life’s work of one of art history’s most beloved painters.