Monet by Himself

I learned more about Monet from his letters than I had ever learned in any art history book. Should be a must read for anyone who wants to understand Monet and his paintings.

One of the best resourses of information about Monet and his works, and his life. Generously illustrated. Well worth the price.

If you thought you only knew Claude Monet by his paintings, think again. Whilst I have stood in awe at MOMA, Musée d'Orsay and The National Gallery - this book brings the story of the man and his relations with his friends, associates and family to life. An exceptional juxtaposition of beautiful and evocative plates of Monet's seminal Impressionist paintings with his own correspondence, carefully translated to English, the book reveals the character, obsessions and life of one of Europe's foremost artists of the last 150 years. It brings him to life: his love for his doomed mistress Camille; his emergent relationship with Alice Hoschedé, the wife of his erstwhile patron; his obsessions with authenticity, weather and his stormy art; the tragic early death of his elder son Jean; in the hackneyed phrase, "All human life is here".