Fondation Claude Monet, Impressionist painter's home and garden museum in Giverny, France
The Fondation Claude Monet is a house museum and garden in Giverny where the painter lived and worked until his death. The pink building contains original furniture and two separate garden areas with seasonal flowers and a pond.
Monet bought the property in 1883 and spent over four decades there developing the gardens and painting his famous water lily series. After his death in 1926, the grounds fell into disrepair until American donors funded the restoration in the 1970s.
The Japanese influence appears clearly in the water garden with its arched bridge and water lilies that Monet painted over decades. The rooms inside preserve a collection of Japanese woodblock prints that the artist himself gathered and hung on the walls.
Visits are possible from March through November, and the gardens show different blooms and colors each month. Entry costs 13 euros for adults, while children under seven enter at no charge.
The water garden with the lily pond came into being only after 1893, once Monet had purchased additional land and diverted a stream. The foundation today ranks as the second most visited site in Normandy.
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