had this impression myself, but i believe he used a palette knife more than a brush. the second detail, in particular, was def done w a knife.

it was a crazy thing to do back in the day when painters had to grind their own pigments. this meant hours and hours of grinding labor to paint like that. if you look at monet's paintings, he is amaaazingly stingy w the paint, some spots barely touched.
always thought this was real proof that he was not your average brain.