Acrylic on canvas, 12x16"

Monet painted this in 1875. He painted it outdoors and managed to capture a spontaneous looking moment of a casual family outing, different from the formal portraits which people had painted before impressionism. To me, although the scene seems tranquil, the painting also seems energetic, as though it might be windy there, and the sunlight seems to shimmer dramatically. It was very enjoyable to focus on Monet's painting while painting my own reproduction of it, and take in all of its details.