Claude Monet

Claude Monet didn’t paint what he saw—he painted what it felt like to see. As the leader of the Impressionist movement, Monet flipped the script on traditional art by ditching sharp lines and perfect realism for color, light, and movement. His brushstrokes captured the vibe of a moment rather than its exact shape, making his paintings feel alive.

His famous painting Impression, Sunrise wasn’t just a bold choice—it accidentally gave an entire movement its name after a critic tried to insult it. Monet and his friends owned it, and suddenly 'Impressionism' became the future of art. Instead of working in studios, they painted outside (aka 'en plein air'), chasing sunlight and shadows as they changed hour by hour.

Monet was obsessed with how nature changed throughout the day. That’s why he painted the same thing over and over—haystacks at dawn, at noon, and at dusk. His Water Lilies series from his garden in Giverny looks like a dreamscape, mixing reflections, color, and soft shapes into nearly abstract masterpieces.

Even as he aged and his eyesight faded, Monet kept painting. His later works, especially the giant water lily murals, blurred the line between what’s real and what’s felt—foreshadowing modern abstract art. His legacy lives on not just in museums, but in every artist who’s ever tried to paint how the world feels, not just how it looks.