Boats on the Thames, London 1901

Claude Monet captured Boats on the Thames in London with an eye that seemed to dissolve the world into atmosphere. Look at how he’s layered pastel strokes, a kind of building up and rubbing away to suggest fog and light. There's a real push-and-pull in how Monet handles the medium here. It's like he's trying to catch something that's always slipping away, the way light changes, or the way the air feels thick with mist. See how the tower in the background almost fades into the sky? It’s like he’s more interested in the mood than in the thing itself. I find that little tugboat at the bottom so charming! It’s just a few quick marks, but it really grounds the whole scene. Monet's constant revisiting of themes, like his water lilies or the Rouen Cathedral series, shows this ongoing conversation, always chasing a new way of seeing. It's like art is never finished, just endlessly becoming.