The House at Giverny Viewed from the Rose Garden 1924

This painting of the house at Giverny was made by Claude Monet at an unknown date, using oil paint on canvas. Look at the way Monet builds up the image, a layering of blues, greens and pinks that become the house, the garden, the sky. You can almost feel the process of it being made. Up close, the paint is thick and juicy. See that stroke of pink at the bottom, almost like a little pool of light? It’s so casual, yet it gives the whole painting a lift. The way he dabs the paint, it's as if he's trying to capture not just the colours but the very essence of the garden, the feeling of light filtering through leaves. Monet's work is often compared to that of Camille Pissarro. Both artists shared an interest in capturing the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. But whilst Pissarro retained a tighter sense of form, Monet took the process further, embracing a radical ambiguity. It's this willingness to let go of fixed meanings that makes his work so compelling.