The forceful and poignant Portrait de Léon Peltier, dating from Monet's early years, is an exciting reminder that Monet was not always a painter of shimmering landscapes and water lilies. In fact, he first achieved a measure of local fame while still a teenager with his humorous caricatures.

Léon Peltier (1843-1912), little-known today, was a wealthy painter friend and neighbor of Monet who lived in Vétheuil where Monet settled for a few years. Slightly younger than Monet, Peltier had been a pupil of Bouret and Goeneutte and entered his first work in the Salon of 1880, the year following the completion of this portrait.

Monet has casually posed his subject in typical bohemian artist's working attire, with the sitter's pipe lending a contemplative air. It is deftly painted with all of Monet's characteristic verve, his skill particularly apparent in the way the colorful scarf relieves the austerity of an otherwise formal presentation. According to Blanche Hoschedé, Monet painted this portrait in exchange for a pair of boots.