Years later at Giverny, “The Artist’s Garden at Giverny” (1900) is all irises and filtered sun.

After the canvas of ice and mourning, Monet begins to paint a place where things grow again.

Yet Monet kept chasing the light.

“Breakup of Ice” (1880) shows the warmth prevail, as the river breaks free from its icy embrace.

Downriver, even the Seine seemed to stall. In “Lavacourt under Snow” (c. 1878–81) banks pile high with white, the river hardens into slabs of ice, a low sun barely makes a dent.

A landscape stuck in the stubborn cold.

Monet's deepest winter was private.

“Camille Monet on Her Deathbed” (1879) turns his wife’s face into veils of blue, grey, and lilac, as his beloved seems to drift away into cold darkness.

In “Vétheuil in Winter” (c. 1878–79), the climb up to the church feels steep, as if to say: "Keep moving through the cold, even when everything is uphill."

Then the big snows hit.

Monet's patron Ernest Hoschedé went bankrupt in 1877 as his own debts piled up. He left Argenteuil for cheaper Vétheuil.

In "Saint-Lazare Station" (1877), trains prepare to move to unknown places, cloaked in swirling steam.

In the early 1870s, Argenteuil looked like success.

“Autumn on the Seine at Argenteuil” (1873) is all clear river light and soft color, a weekend world of boats and leisure.