Monet's Trees

Claude Monet (1840-1926) once wrote, "I perhaps owe it to flowers, that I became a painter." As one of the leading figures of the Impressionist movement and perhaps the most celebrated landscape painter of his age, Monet dedicated his life to capturing the subtleties of the natural world. Trees—willows enveloped in the mists of the Seine, palm trees beneath the Mediterranean sun, or poplars heavily laden with snow—became a significant motif in his work, and he used them to experiment with an extraordinary variety of tones and colours.

Monet's Trees, by Ralph Skea, focuses on five different themes: Monet's earliest drawings and paintings of trees; his atmospheric use of rivers and coastlines, from the English Channel to the Italian Riviera; the fields, farmlands, and orchards of France; parks and gardens in both the city and the countryside, including his series of paintings featuring trees reflected in his water-lily pond; and his muted depictions of trees in winter. The result is a succinct and highly accessible exploration of some of the best-loved landscapes in art.