Luncheon on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe), 1865-66 by Claude Monet

Luncheon on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe), painted by Claude Monet in 1865-66 gathers a party of elegantly dressed Parisians around a white picnic cloth in a sun-dappled clearing of the Fontainebleau forest, the women in sweeping crinoline gowns and the whole scene flickering with light filtered through the beech leaves. Monet conceived this ambitious figure composition as his youthful answer to Édouard Manet’s scandalous canvas of the same name, aiming to prove that modern life could be painted outdoors on a grand scale. Its bold handling of natural light on fabric and foliage announces the radical open-air vision that would soon blossom into Impressionism.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926). Date: 1865-66.

Luncheon on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe), 1865-66 by Claude Monet. Impressionist Figure Canvas Print.