Claude Monet is inseparable from nature. “The richness I achieve,” the master once said, “comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.” Monet’s desire to capture that moment-to-moment richness—the swaying of a tree branch, the shimmer of a lily pad—is the basis of Impressionism. Look closely and you can almost hear the flutter of a wing, see light in the process of changing. Just in time for cherry blossom season in Japan, works from Monet’s eponymous museum in Paris are traveling east. The focus of the show? His serene waterscapes. —Elena Clavarino