Monet and His Source of Inspiration Oscar-Claude Monet（1840-1926）was a French painter，internationally recognised as one of the creators of Impressionism；in fact，this art movement is named after the work of Monet Impression，Sunrise.（1）

F

F

Monet，like many other Impressionists，took the environment around him as a reference，something he made clear with this famous quote： "The richness I achieve comes from nature，the source of my inspiration."
   （2）

D

D

Although he spent much of his time in Paris and travelled extensively in France and abroad，Monet preferred the countryside and lived for more than fifty years along the Seine River.His interest in gardening grew over the years，from flowerbeds that brightened his first home at Argenteuil to his magnificent gardens at Giverny，which became a pleasure for the eye，a peaceful place to think about nature and a source of inspiration.
   Monet was especially fond of drawing and painting his own gardens.（3）

G

G

By directly observing nature，Monet captured the momentary effects of light and atmosphere on canvas.
   In 1883，Monet and his family moved to a former cider（蘋果酒）farm in Giverny，a small town about thirty-five miles northwest of Paris.He lived there for the rest of his life.At his new home，Monet created an amazing garden that became the main source of inspiration for his later paintings. （4）

A

A

   At Giverny，Monet adapted part of the farmhouse into a studio，and he transformed the vegetable garden and the disused two acres surrounding it into complex flowerbeds.He carefully planned out his garden to be beautiful and different as the seasons changed，planting a wide range of annuals，perennials（多年生的），bulbs，and vines（藤）so there were flowers from early spring through late fall.（5）

B

B

He liked the flowerbeds to be intense and plentiful，overflowing with plants，and he built arbors（藤架）to carry the blossoming colour up to the sky.As an enthusiastic and skilled gardener，Monet read gardening publications，traded seed，and collected books on gardening.He even hired a team of gardeners to take care of the plants and inspected the garden daily.

A.The garden was also a living work of art in its own right.
B.With a painter's eye，Monet thoughtfully arranged plants according to colour and height.
C.Monet was a painter known for his pioneering role in the development of Impressionism.
D.Claude Monet combined his love of nature and art by creating gardens wherever he lived.
E.When Monet travelled to Paris to visit The Louvre，he found painters copying from the old masters.
F.His artistic production is strongly influenced by nature，the protagonist（主角）in many of his paintings.
G.Over and over again，he showed the ways light，weather，season，and time of day visually changed them.