Renowned as the "father of French Impressionism," Claude Monet was inspired throughout his life by his direct experiences of nature, especially his constant contact with the Seine River. But it was the flower gardens and lily pond at his home in Giverny in northern France that became his obsession during the second half of his life.

Monet first noticed the village of Giverny while traveling by train. In 1883, he determined to move there, and he rented the house and the surrounding acreage. By 1890, when he had saved enough money to purchase the property, Monet ripped out the fading orchard and installed a new garden celebrated for its explosive array of colorful plants and trees, and its distinctly geometrical configuration. He also transformed a pond — formed by a tributary of the Epte River — into a water garden, replete with water lilies and wisterias, that could be crossed via a graceful Japanese footbridge.

This lecture explores the seemingly endless ways Monet turned his gardens at Giverny into his most enduring masterworks, as well as the other series he created as he moved beyond the Seine: The grain stacks, the poplars and the cathedral of Rouen.

A reception to meet the speaker follows the lecture.Presented by Helga K. Aurisch, curator of European art and co-curator of the exhibition Monet and the Seine: Impressions of a River.