Water Lilies (Nymphéas), 1916-19 by Claude Monet

Water Lilies (Nymphéas), painted by Claude Monet in 1916-19, depicts two pale water lily blossoms tinged with pink floating amid rounded green pads on the deep blue-violet surface of Monet's pond at Giverny, its surface dissolving into soft ripples of reflected sky. Loose, mosaic-like brushstrokes blur the boundary between water, foliage, and flower, immersing the viewer entirely in the pond's surface with no horizon or sky above to anchor the scene. The canvas belongs to the vast decorative series Monet painted in his purpose-built Giverny studio during and after the First World War, work that occupied him almost exclusively until his death in 1926 and culminated in the large water-lily murals he donated to the French state.

Artist: Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926). Date: 1916-19.

Water Lilies (Nymphéas), 1916-19 by Claude Monet. Giverny Water Garden Wall Art Canvas Print.