Path under the Rose Arches, Giverny 1922

Claude Monet painted this riot of color, Path under the Rose Arches, Giverny, with oil on canvas, and you can almost smell the roses! It's easy to lose sight of the path under all those roses, but, in a way, it helps us understand Monet's process. He wasn't after photographic reality; he wanted to show us how light and color feel. The paint is applied in such a way that each brushstroke remains visible, building up the image like layering thoughts. Look closely at those swirling blues and greens at the top. They're like whispers of coolness, contrasting with the fiery oranges below. The texture isn’t just about what you see, it's about the physical act of applying paint, about Monet’s arm moving, the bristles hitting the canvas. In a way, it's as much about energy as it is about roses. You could say that with his commitment to sensation and process, Monet is an early abstract artist, a precursor to someone like Joan Mitchell, perhaps. Both embrace the ephemeral and celebrate the messy, beautiful ambiguity of life.