Women in the Garden 1866 by Claude Monet

Oscar-Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) was the most consistent and prolific practitioner of  Impressionism and the philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein air landscape painting.

Women in the Garden was painted at Ville d'Avray using his wife Camille as the only model. The goal of this large-scale work, while meticulously composed, was to render the effects of true outdoor light, rather than regard conventions of modeling or drapery.

This was the painting that the official Salon jury had rejected in 1867, and now representatives of the French government had agreed to pay the incredible price of 200,000 francs for it.
Women in the Garden 1866 by Claude Monet