Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son

Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son is a significant oil on canvas painting created by Claude Monet in 1875. This arresting work captures the artist's first wife, Camille Doncieux, and their son, Jean, positioned on a grassy hill overlooking the viewer. It is a quintessential example of Impressionist practice, executed en plein air (outdoors) to capture the fleeting effects of natural light and movement.

The piece exemplifies the rapid evolution of French painting during the critical period of 1851 to 1875. Monet utilized rapid, broken brushwork to translate the atmosphere of a breezy summer day onto the canvas. The figures are placed dynamically against a bright, cloud-swept sky, highlighting the intense light reflecting off the white fabric of Madame Monet’s dress and the underside of her green parasol. Monet’s technique emphasizes spontaneous observation, particularly in the handling of shadows and the sense of uplifted movement in Camille’s veil and skirt, suggesting a gust of wind.

As a domestic subject, this painting provides insight into Monet’s personal life while simultaneously demonstrating the Impressionist commitment to depicting contemporary life and leisure activities. The nearly life-size scale of the work elevates what could have been a simple family snapshot into a powerful study of light, color, and atmosphere. This iconic French masterwork is a celebrated part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. While the original resides in the museum’s care, high-quality prints derived from sources entering the public domain allow wider access to this defining image of the Impressionist movement.