This book points out the importance of the series of the Nymphea inspired by the area that Claude Monet had arranged in his garden of Giverny and to which it devoted the twenty last years of his life.

For nearly thirty years, Monet was interested in depicting one plant species, the water lily. The first pictures painted from 1897 are small with an almost square format. Over two hundred and fifty canvasses were painted on this theme of nature in its primordial forms : water, light, vegetation, splashes of flowers. In 1908, Monet wrote,

these landscapes of water and reflections have become an obsession, it is beyond the stength of an old man, and yet I want to succeed in portraying what I feel. I have destroyed some, I have started all over again, and I hope that something will emerge from so much effort.

Wishing to participate in the 1918 Victory, Monet offered two big panels to the French State and asked Clemenceau to act as an intermediary. The latter persuaded the artist to extend his gift and finally eight vast compositions were installed in two big oval rooms in the Orangerie, after Monet died but in accordance with his instructions.

Publisher : Réunion des musées nationaux

Binding : Soft cover

128 Pages

English