Claude Monet intended his most famous series of paintings – of the water lilies in his garden at Giverny, France – as a means of “peaceful meditation.” But according to historian and best-selling author Ross King, they belied the great impressionist’s frustration in trying to capture the fugitive effects of light, water, and color.

They also were a portal to the struggles and triumphs of the last 12 years of Monet’s life. The horrors of World War I were closing in on Paris. He had lost wife and eldest son. Cataracts threatened his vision. Still, he painted on.

King discusses the paintings and their meaning to Monet in a discussion of King’s new book Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies.