What artistic innovation is associated with Claude Monet and his “Water Lilies” series?

Impressionism

Claude Monet, one of the founders of Impressionism, revolutionized art with his "Water Lilies" series, painted in the last decades of his life in his garden at Giverny. These paintings are emblematic of Impressionism, a movement characterized by an intention to capture the temporary essence of scenes through variations in light and color. What makes the "Water Lilies" particularly captivating is how Monet experimented with perspectives and compositions, often omitting the horizon and immersing the viewer directly into the pond. These works, created by Monet as he struggled with blindness, represent not only a pinnacle in his artistic quest to capture the fleeting nuances of nature but also prefigure modern movements such as abstraction. Monet not only contributed to the development of Impressionism but also paved the way for modernity in art.