Water Lilies1906
There is no shoreline and no sky here, only the surface of Monet’s lily pond at Giverny seen up close, with thickly painted pink and white blossoms floating on water that holds reflections of the light above, while a band of shadow falls across the top. More about this work
About this work
There is no shoreline and no sky here, only the surface of Monet’s lily pond at Giverny seen up close, with thickly painted pink and white blossoms floating on water that holds reflections of the light above, while a band of shadow falls across the top. From around 1900 Monet devoted himself increasingly to the water garden he had created, painting it in dozens of variations. Removing the horizon turns the picture into an all-over field of colour and reflection, a step towards the vast water lily decorations of his last years.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
Painting of a pond seen up close spotted with thickly painted pink and white water lilies and a shadow across the top third of the picture.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Claude Monet
French, 1840–1926
Monet grew up in Le Havre, where Eugène Boudin encouraged him to paint outdoors. In Paris he met Renoir, Sisley and Bazille, and his Impression, Sunrise gave the Impressionist movement its name in 1874. He made a lifelong study of changing light, painting the Gare Saint-Lazare, haystacks, poplars and Rouen Cathedral in series. From 1883 he lived at Giverny, where he built the water garden that filled the last three decades of his work.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Impressionism
Painters in 1870s Paris who worked quickly, often outdoors, to catch light as it changed.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1933.1157
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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