If someone is attractive enough from a far distance, but nasty up close, do you say "She is a monet"? I read it's from Alicia Sylverstone's movie, but is it common?
I would read "she's a Monet" without the negative connotation, though the speaker may or may not have meant it that way. Monet is exquisite, to me.
I've never heard it and I don't think it's a great metonymy. Monet's paintings look more or less usual when you look at them from a distance, but get blurry when you look at them up close. It's not the first time I encounter this kind of equating of blurriness and ugliness, but I don't really get it.