Irises in Monet's Garden Magnet

Monet's Garden in Giverny, by French Impressionism artist, Claude Monet, in 1900. By the time Monet acquired his land and garden in Giverny at the turn of the century, he was a celebrity and called a great French landscapist. He was 56 at this time and strolled around his property with his cigar going full blast. He liked to discuss propagation, grafts, and color schemes with his small group of gardeners. His garden was laid out like a classic French country garden with rose pergolas over gravel walkways. As time went on he would build greenhouses and import rare plants and shrubs from all over the world. He liked to tour his garden several times a day. He was a strong man and a strong painter, with the fortitude to do most any line of work in his life. He then started to expand by buying more land with a pond and watered by the Ru. He had a great admiration for all things Japanese. As he expanded his land even more he made the pond larger and a Japanese bridge was built over it adding new water lilies, weeping willows, and wisteria. By 1900 he had 20 paintings of his garden. Two years later he worked on a long series of studies and finally had an exhibit ready by 1909 called "Les Nympheas, Paysages d'Eau".