Claude Monet, "Autumn Effect, Argenteuil"

Claude Monet, Autumn Effect at Argenteuil, 1873; ©The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London.

Monet was a prolific artist who produced hundreds of paintings, often returning to the same scene, from the same perspective, dozens of times. And there are thousands of Monet reproductions. As a result, it's often difficult to identify a modern copy among all the authentic variations. In some cases, however, it's obvious. The reproductions below are good examples. No one who's truly familiar with Monet would accept versions like these as authentic, but viewers new to Monet love sharing them, and some are quite popular. In fact, many rather extreme contemporary interpretations have been used by art vendors on prints and other commercial products. Note that the last image below is a cropped detail, but appears online without saying it's an altered version, or that it's only a portion of the whole picture.

Altered version of a painting by Claude Monet.

Altered version of a painting by Claude Monet.

Altered detail of a painting by Claude Monet.