He was one of the leading lights of the Impressionist movement, which transformed the art world.
And today, an early painting by Claude Monet will go on display in Duff House in Banff after topping a poll on social media.
A Seascape, Shipping by Moonlight is the latest work from National Galleries of Scotland to be exhibited at the Georgian mansion as part of a series of exhibitions devoted to masterpieces.
It was produced 10 years before the first landmark Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1874.
The dramatic moonlit scene depicts the harbour at Honfleur, close to the artist’s childhood home of Le Havre on the Normandy coast, and its atmospheric qualities have attracted praise from many experts.
It will be on display until next March alongside the permanent collections at Duff House, which include paintings by leading Scottish artists such as Allan Ramsay and Henry Raeburn and significant works by international names like El Greco.
Corinna Leenen, Duff House’s collections manager, said: “The annual masterpiece loan is always a highlight of the season here, and we were pleased this year to open it up to a public vote on social media.
“As the vote showed, Impressionist artists remain ever popular with the public, and this is a great opportunity for art lovers in the north east to see a striking and evocative work by perhaps the movement’s best-loved exponent.”
Professor Frances Fowle, senior curator of French art at National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This dark, moonlit seascape is highly unusual in Monet’s oeuvre and very far from the sun-drenched meadows we usually associate with the artist.
“Produced on the Normandy coast, where Monet spent his childhood, it shows him facing the challenges of painting out of doors at night.”
Monet was born in Paris in 1840 and moved to Normandy as a child.
It was there that he spent much of his life and created his magnificent gardens at Giverny, where he lived for 43 years until his death in 1926.
In 1874, he exhibited Impression, Sunrise, a hazy view of the port at Le Havre in the early morning light, which inspired the name of the Impressionist movement.
Earlier this year, one of his works, Meules, was sold for £90 million in New York.
Entry to view the seascape is included in the Duff House admission price, and is free for members.
