Water Lilies, 1914-26
Oil on canvas, three panels
Each 6' 6 3/4" x 13' 11 1/4" (200 x 424.8 cm)
overall 6' 6 3/4" x 41' 10 3/8" (200 x 1276 cm)

The aim of his large Water Lilies paintings, Monet said, was to supply “the illusion of an endless whole, of water without horizon or bank.” While his garden in Giverny, his water-lily pond, and the sky above are the subjects of this monumental triptych, his representation of them can be seen to verge toward abstraction. In the attempt to capture the constantly changing qualities of natural light and color, spatial cues all but dissolve; above and below, near and far, water and sky all commingle. In his enveloping, large-scale canvases Monet sought to create “the refuge of a peaceful meditation in the center of a flowering aquarium.”

Installation view of the exhibition, "Claude Monet: Seasons and Moments."
March 9, 1960–May 15, 1960.
The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York. IN660.20.
Photograph by Soichi Sunami.

Link

on November 7th, 2018