Throughout the years the Marmottan Monet Museum became one of the major museums of Impressionist paintings. This progressive evolution has met various stages. The first one started with the considerable bequest made by Mrs. Donop de Monchy in 1957. Among other pieces, she gave the museum around twenty paintings by Monet, Morisot, Pissaro, Renoir, Sisley, Daumier, and the famous Impression, Sunrise

Victorine Donop de Monchy had inherited the collection from her father Georges de Bellio, friend and doctor of most of these artists (see Georges de Bellio’s exhibition catalogue, Marmottan Monet Museum 2007). This bequest was certainly doubly beneficial as it might have inspired Michel Monet, the painter’s son, to make his own generous bequest by donating the museum a collection of paintings, letters, photographs, and personal memories that he inherited from his father. Besides many Monet paintings, the bequest also has the artist’s sketchbooks, palettes, letters photographs, personal objects, and the collection of paintings made by his friends that he kept.

Other bequests extended the Impressionist collection, such as the Nelly Duhem's in 1985. Apart from the Duhem pieces, it also contains pieces by Gauguin, Corot, Boudin, Renoir, Guillaumin, Carrière, and the famous Monet Walk near Argenteuil.

Thanks to all of these donations the Marmottan Monet Museum is now in a position to showcase to the public a set of 94 paintings and 29 drawings (sketchbooks not included) by Monet and follow his career from end to end.