Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son

1875

Oil on canvas, 100 × 81 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington

Monet's wife Camille and son Jean, seen from below against a windy sky. It shows how far Monet would push fast, broken brushwork.

Monet caught the blowing veil and the sun on Camille's dress in one outdoor sitting. Working that fast let the Impressionists record a moment before it changed.
Monet showed it at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876, under the title Promenade.
The low viewpoint sets both figures against open sky.
Quick, loose strokes leave bare canvas showing in parts of the sky.
Bought for Paul Mellon in 1965, it came to the National Gallery as a gift in 1983.

In the 1870s Monet often posed his household outdoors near home. This outing reads more like a snapshot than a formal portrait.

Plein air: French for "open air": painting outdoors, in front of the subject.