World Museum Guide
#48

Most Searched Artwork #48 Worldwide

Woman with a Parasol

Claude Monet · 1875 · National Gallery of Art

Quick Answer

Woman with a Parasol — Madame Monet and Her Son is an oil painting by French Impressionist Claude Monet, created in 1875. It depicts Monet's wife Camille holding a parasol against the wind on a high grassy hill, with their young son Jean visible behind her. The painting captures a spontaneous outdoor scene with extraordinary lightness and freedom of brushwork. It is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and is one of the most beloved images of Impressionism.

Woman with a Parasol by Claude Monet — a woman with a parasol and a child on a breezy summer hill

Public domain — Claude Monet, 1875. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. / Google Art Project / Wikimedia Commons.

At a Glance

Artist
Claude Monet (1840–1926)
Created
1875
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
100 × 81 cm (39.4 × 31.9 in)
Location
National Gallery of Art, Constitution Avenue, Washington D.C.

Find it at

National Gallery of Art

Washington D.C., United States

"Monet's wife and son on a windy hill — captured with a freedom of brushwork that changed painting"

History & Story

Monet painted the work in 1875 in the fields near his home at Argenteuil, west of Paris, where he lived from 1871 to 1878. His wife Camille (they married in 1870) and their son Jean (born 1867) were regular models in this period. The painting was made outdoors (en plein air), with Monet working quickly to capture the movement of wind and light.

Camille Monet died of cancer in 1879, at the age of 32. Monet painted her death mask. He later returned to the subject of a woman with a parasol in two 1886 paintings using a different model — his stepdaughter Suzanne Hoschedé — often compared to this 1875 version. Those two paintings are in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Why It Matters

Woman with a Parasol captures something entirely new in Western painting: the sensation of wind. The woman's veil and dress stream behind her; the grass bends; the sky is a mass of rapidly moving cloud. Monet achieved this through directional brushstrokes that describe movement rather than surface texture — the painting feels as if time itself is rushing through it. This dynamic quality, previously impossible in painting, became one of Impressionism's defining achievements.

Key Facts & Figures

The model: Camille Doncieux Monet, the artist's wife — who died of cancer in 1879 at age 32
The child: Jean Monet, Camille and Claude's son, then about 7–8 years old
Free admission: The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is free to enter — one of the greatest free museums in the world
Later versions: Two 1886 versions using a different model (Suzanne Hoschedé) are at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Painted en plein air: Worked outdoors directly from the models in a field near Argenteuil — not in a studio

Common Questions About Woman with a Parasol

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