Claude Debussy’s taste for the arts, and for painting in particular, is well known. A very wide-ranging taste, which ran from the Italian painting of the Renaissance to the masterpieces of Symbolism and Art Nouveau, by way of Japanese prints and Impressionism. The aim of this set is to show how music and painting nourished each other in his output. In an article of 25 January 1915, a music critic praised Debussy’s oeuvre by comparing it to that of Claude Monet. The composer was deeply touched, and wrote back: ‘You do me great honour by calling me a pupil of Claude Monet; be so kind as to add to that honour my affectionate friendship.’