I finally remembered where I read about that kind of dichotomy—it was a Malcolm Gladwell article which does indeed mention Monet but only in the context of using Cezanne as an example of the gradually improving type: http://www.gladwell.com/2008/2008_10_20_a_latebloomers.html
I finally remembered where I read about that kind of dichotomy—it was a Malcolm Gladwell article which does indeed mention Monet but only in the context of using Cezanne as an example of the gradually improving type: http://www.gladwell.com/2008/2008_10_20_a_latebloomers.html