Monet moved to Giverny, a small village in Northwestern France in 1883, where he spent the latter half of his life. He was absorbed in gardening in this nature-rich countryside village, and in 1895 had the “water garden” completed by drawing water from a branch of the Seine. Monet continued to create a series of paintings of the waterscape in his garden, with a special focus on water lilies floating on the pond, until his final years. Being created during a relatively early period of his life in the village, the composition still keeps the depth of space. On the canvas that is about 90 square centimeters, yellow and pink water lilies are depicted. The surface of their leaves is shining white in contrast to the dim water surface, on which the sky and trees standing on the opposite side of the pond are reflected.

Monet moved to Giverny, a small village in Northwestern France in 1883, where he spent the latter half of his life. He was absorbed in gardening in this nature-rich countryside village, and in 1895 had the “water garden” completed by drawing water from a branch of the Seine. Monet continued to create a series of paintings of the waterscape in his garden, with a special focus on water lilies floating on the pond, until his final years. This work depicts, from above, water lilies planted in a circle. In addition to the four flowers painted by layering colors such as white and pink, you can also see buds on the left side and lower right side of the canvas.

Monet, in his later years, developed the idea of covering the walls of a room with large paintings of water lilies. For his “Grand Decorations” now displayed at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, France, he started to create works each as large as about two meters on the long side in 1914. On this painting, which is one of the large works created based on this idea, the pond is depicted by layering purple and green colors in a complex manner to express the weeping willows and the sky reflected on the surface of the pond. On the left side of the canvas, you can see the water surface shining with the light passing through the leaves of trees.

Monet, in his later years, developed the idea of covering the walls of a room with large paintings of water lilies. For his “Grand Decorations” now displayed at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, France, he started to create works each as large as about two meters on the long side in 1914. The water lilies painted in detail in the front of the canvas look three-dimensional. They are in contrast to the simplified white-colored water lilies that you can see on the upper left side of the canvas, and we can feel the burning gaze of the painter staring at the new red variety.

Monet, in his later years, developed the idea of covering the walls of a room with large paintings of water lilies. For his “Grand Decorations” now displayed at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, France, he started to create works each as large as about two meters on the long side in 1914. On this painting, which is one of the works created based on this idea, the leaves of water lilies planted in a circle are shining yellow, making people think about the ring of light that is visible during a solar eclipse. Accordingly, the painting is also dubbed “Corona.” Even the underwater stalks of water lilies are clearly depicted through the thick and bold brushwork.

Monet was absorbed in gardening in the small village Giverny located in Northwestern France, where he spent the latter half of his life. In 1895, he had the “water garden” completed by drawing water from a branch of the Seine. Irises were among Monet’s favorite flowers, and it is said that a range of iris varieties were planted by the pond in his home garden. On this work, you can see pale-purple irises in the center of the canvas and also their stalks and leaves under the flowers. The blue color you can see from the center to the lower left side of the canvas expresses the surface of the pond. The free and vigorous brushwork and the vivid colors make the painting exceptionally impressive.

Monet moved to Giverny, a small village in Northwestern France in 1883, where he spent the latter half of his life. He was absorbed in gardening in this nature-rich countryside village, and in 1895 had the “water garden” completed by drawing water from a branch of the Seine. In the pond, colorful water lilies imported from across the world were floating, with a Japanese-style arched bridge built over the pond, seemingly influenced by ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints). Monet was suffering from cataracts when creating this work, the influence of which you can see in the “veil of air” covering the canvas.