MONET – Century of Change

Author and historian Alice Loxton brings to life the story of one of Europe’s most influential painters: Claude Monet. In this six-part biographical podcast, listeners journey through the pivotal moments of Monet’s life — from personal struggles to creative triumphs. Far from being relics of the past, his conflicts resonate deeply with today’s world: the fragile balance between humanity and nature, sweeping social change, and the enduring tension between war and peace.
Surrounded by legend and myth, Monet remains a towering figure in art history. This documentary podcast seeks the truth behind the icon — and explores the final, unanswered questions about the French artist.
A production of the Museum Barberini in Potsdam and Studio Jot.

MONET – Century of Change

Latest episodes

Water Lilies and Self-Doubt | 6

Water Lilies and Self-Doubt | 6

31m 1s

In 1926, Claude Monet dies surrounded by fog — and by doubt. He has painted hundreds of water lilies, but refuses to exhibit them. He nearly abandons his greatest project. What happened to the confidence of France’s most celebrated painter?

In this final episode, we follow Monet into seclusion — as his eyesight fails, his temper flares, and his paintings become more radical than ever before. While the world waits outside the gates of Giverny, it is his oldest friend, Georges Clemenceau, who pushes him to finish what he started. Their unlikely bond — between artist and statesman — becomes...

 Garden Eden | 5

Garden Eden | 5

27m 31s

On September 5, 1879, Claude Monet watches his wife Camille die — and begins to paint her lifeless face. It’s an image that haunts him forever, but also pulls him back to the one thing that might save him: his art.
In this episode, Monet loses love but finds unexpected refuge in an unlikely place: a garden in Giverny. As his first wife fades, Alice Hoschedé steps into his life — and together with eight children, they build a new world behind garden walls. Amid grief, scandal, and betrayal, Monet plants his own paradise — and turns flowers, ponds, and...

Art and Peace | 4

Art and Peace | 4

28m 46s

In 1868, Claude Monet throws himself into the Seine — but the river doesn’t keep him. Instead, the struggling young father claws his way back to shore and keeps painting. But at what cost?
In this episode, Monet battles poverty, scandal, and a war that takes his closest friend Bazille. He escapes to London as Paris burns, finds unlikely allies among fellow exiles like Pissarro, and dreams up a revolution in art: an exhibition without juries or gatekeepers. But when Impression, Sunrise finally shocks the world, the critics laugh, the crowds boo — and Monet’s own circle declares him dead...

Flights of Fancy | 3

Flights of Fancy | 3

33m 35s

When the world says paint the past, Monet turns his back on it — quite literally. In 1867, he sets up his easel on a balcony of the Louvre, Paris behind him, revolution before him. As Haussmann’s boulevards transform the city, Monet dreams of transforming art to match it.
In this episode, the stakes grow higher: Monet battles rival Manet for fame, dreams up paintings so massive they break him, and gambles everything on a single portrait of his muse — Camille. Success and scandal walk hand in hand, but when debts rise, friends grow silent, and a child is...