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. Host: Alice Loxton, writer and executive producer: Janis Gebhardt.

MONET – Century of Change

Latest episodes

Water Lilies and Self-Doubt | 6

More episodes

All episodes
27 min

Garden Eden | 5

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...

28 min

Art and Peace | 4

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...

33 min

Flights of Fancy | 3

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...

30 min

Friends for Life | 2

Before Monet painted water lilies, he almost died in the deserts of Algeria. Drafted into a brutal colonial war at just twenty, the young dreamer from Le Havre found himself in a uniform instead of an artist’s smock — until a twist of fate, a stubborn aunt, and a defiant decision brought him back to Paris.

This episode dives into Monet’s unlikely escape from the army, the moment Oscar became Claude, and how one fateful friendship changed his path forever. Meet Bazille — the loyal friend, secret patron, and fellow rebel who helped Monet break free from old masters and...