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Artwork Page for Water Lilies (Agapanthus)

Details / Information for Water Lilies (Agapanthus)

Water Lilies (Agapanthus)

c. 1915–26
(French, 1840–1926)
France, late 19th century-early 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 204.9 x 430.3 x 6 cm (80 11/16 x 169 7/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 201.3 x 425.6 cm (79 1/4 x 167 9/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund and an anonymous gift 1960.81
Location: 222 Impressionism & Post-Impressionism
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

Water lilies were a recurring theme in Monet's work; he painted around 250 water lily compositions.

Description

A skilled horticulturalist as well as an artist, Claude Monet spent the last 30 years of his life painting the private garden he designed and helped cultivate at his home in Giverny in northern France. The resultant canvases are notable for their varied motifs, formats, and sizes. Monumental in scale, this rendering of his water lily pond focuses on the momentary effects of sunlight as it both penetrates and reflects off its shimmering surface. By zeroing in on the water and omitting its horizon and surrounding banks, Monet infers a limitless expanse—a perception amplified by the painting’s vast horizontal format that fills the viewer’s field of vision.
An oil painting with soft, blended colors of water lilies in a pond. The pond is painted in shades of purple, blue, and green. The water lilies are painted in bright shades of white, blue, and pink.

Water Lilies (Agapanthus)

c. 1915–26

Claude Monet

(French, 1840–1926)
France, late 19th century-early 20th century

See Also

Videos

Water and Sky

Water Lilies Triptych

Gardening at Giverny

Examining the Canvas

On My Mind: Monet's Water Lilies

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