青幻舎 SEIGENSHA Art Publishing

Since its launch in 1985, the Basic Art Series by German art-book publisher Taschen has garnered fans among art lovers the world over. Each installment brings scholarly yet accessible text and attractive plates together into a compact volume that offers a quick grounding on its featured artist.

Seigensha is proud to bring this bestselling series to Japanese readers starting in autumn 2025. The lineup will commence with Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, followed by many more titles soon to be announced.

The master Impressionist—fleeting moments captured for all time
Flowing clouds, the shimmer of water, blossoms nodding in the breeze—such were the momentary flashes of beauty that Claude Monet (1840–1926) sought to immortalize on his canvas. Monet devoted his life to capturing not the surface beauty of a scene, but rather the play of light before him; though he lost most of his vision in his last years, he continued to stand before his easel, taking in what light and shadows were still perceptible to him and rendering with his brush the glorious riot of colors that he surely could not fully apprehend with his eyes.

In this volume, stunning color plates enrich a discussion of the eighty-six-year trajectory of an artist who embraced, portrayed, and indeed lived his entire life alongside light. Presented are 101 masterpieces—including Camille (The Woman in a Green Dress) (1866), Impression, Sunrise (1872), The Walk, Woman with a Parasol (1875), The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train (1877), Camille Monet on Her Deathbed (1879), The Rocks at Belle-Île (1886), Grainstacks at Giverny, Morning Effect (1889), the Rouen Cathedral series, London, Houses of Parliament, Sun Breaking through the Fog (1904), and Bridge over a Water-Lily Pond (1899)—along with a detailed chronology.