Preserving the Legacy

The preservation of Monet's legacy involves multiple institutions and ongoing efforts. The Fondation Claude Monet maintains Giverny as a living monument. Museums worldwide conserve his paintings, facing challenges of light damage and aging materials. Scholars continue researching, publishing catalogues raisonnés and new interpretations.

Digital preservation creates new possibilities and challenges. While digital reproduction makes works widely accessible, it also raises questions about authentic experience. Can a screen capture the texture and scale crucial to Monet's effects? How do we preserve not just images but the experience of encountering the works?

Climate change poses particular irony for preserving Monet's legacy. The atmospheric conditions he painted are themselves changing. Giverny's garden must adapt to new weather patterns. The very subject of his art—light, atmosphere, seasonal change—faces transformation that adds poignancy to his recordings of a world that no longer exists quite as he saw it.