Contains 10 cards (5 each of 2 designs) and 10 envelopes. Created at the very height of Impressionism by the leader of the movement, Claude Monet, the two works in this folio of notecards exemplify how the Impressionist artists sought to convey a passing glimpse or impression of nature as seen by the human eye. Both were commissioned by the textile manufacturer Ernest Hoschede, one of the first patrons of the Impressionists, to decorate the large drawing room of his chateau at Montgeron, Rejecting the rules of classical landscapes, Monet concentrated on reflecting changes in light and color, producing an astonishingly fresh momentary impression. In Corner of the Garden at Montgeron, Monet took` as his motif a blooming garden and successfully created an image of vivid, changing nature. The coloring, founded on the eye`s combination at a distance of what are in fact separate brushstrokes of pure color, is suffused with daylight and air, and the dynamics of this plein-air effect are reinforced by the vibrant paint surface. Pond at Montgeron shows Monet`s mastery of painting reflections on the surface of water - a talent that would later reach its zenith in the paintings he made of his water garden at home in Giverny. It is possible that the barely noticeable silhouette of a woman with a fishing rod in Pond at Montgeron is Hoschede`s wife, Alice, later to become Monet`s second wife. Both of these works are part of the extraordinary collections of The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, which are housed in lavish quarters in the historic heart of the city.