Claude Monet | Morning on the Seine near Giverny, 1897

Begun in 1896, Monet’s Mornings on the Seine series was not completed until 1897 because of inclement weather.

Having patiently scouted out views along the river, Monet then painted the pictures from a boat that he had converted into a floating studio.

For an extended period he rose by dawn in order to paint the changing effects of light as the sun came up.

He then lined up the canvases on easels in his studio to complete them together as a series.

Fifteen were shown at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1898. | © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Claude Monet | Morning on the Seine near Giverny, 1897 | Metropolitan Museum of Art