FIRST IMPRESSIONS - CLAUDE MONET

In an attractive style that is heavy with anecdote and details of financial problems and family togetherness, Waldron discusses Monet's artistic growth as well as the development of impressionism. A wide range of full-color reproductions helps create an understanding of the manner in which the paints were applied to surfaces. Of course the scale is missing so that the full impact of these paintings is lost, but they serve admirably to illustrate the text's claims and interpretations and to demonstrate Monet's continuing love affair with the infinite ways in which light shapes our perceptions of the world. Despite the huge number of books on impressionism available, this version of one artist's struggle to maintain his integrity and to sharpen his vision is useful, particularly for those seeking a pleasant literary introduction to that bit of art history.