The Musée d'Orsay is famous for its collection of Impressionist paintings - and this is one of earliest examples.
It may seem pretty tame today, but it marked a major shift in history of art.
Like other revolutionary artists of the period, Monet was tired of painting historical subjects.
He wanted to celebrate the joy of being outdoors, the beauty of light, the atmosphere....
So he set up a large canvas in his garden, dug a small ditch to move the canvas up and down, and asked his wife, Camille, to pose for him.
When he submitted the painting to the Salon - one of the most prestigious art competitions of the time - the judges hated it :
"Too many young people are determined to pursue in this abominable direction. We need to save them and save art!".
Little did they know that Monet and the Impressionists would take the world by storm and profoundly change our perception of art.