Water Lilies by Monet

This week, I chose to stay in the flowers theme, my last article Florae is still making me dream...

And I take you to the magnificent Orangery Museum, in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, to admire the latest work by one of the most important impressionist painters: Claude Monet.

He wanted it as a place of meditation, silence is requested, but in front of so much beauty one can only be moved and be silent.

There’s only one other place where I feel so peaceful, and that is on the island where took place my Solo Wedding in Santorini.

Here, the artwork depicts a garden at different times of the day from sunrise to sunset.
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No horizon or frame to get lost in this scenery and it doesn't take long to be completely absorbed by this lush vegetation.

Installed on the curved walls of 2 large oval rooms. The total ensemble measures nearly 100 linear metres (328 ft) over a height of 1.97m (3.28ft), in other words not far from 200m2 (2,153 sq ft) of art on display.

The light is natural, overhead, coming from the ceiling as in the artist’s studio.

Nothing is left to chance, Monet decided the location of the 8 panels, the space between them, he planned the smallest details.

However, he has never seen the result, the Water Lilies were installed a few months after his death in 1927.

Born in Paris in 1840, Monet was a French painter and one of the founders of Impressionism.

He spent the last 30 years of his life painting water lilies, no less than 250 oil paintings, and it took him 15 years to paint those on display at the Orangery.

His ultimate work, dedicated to peace, started in the midst of the First World War, therefore he did donate it to France.

So important to him, that suffering from cataracts and almost blind, he had an operation to be able to finish them off.
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He died in 1926 at the age of 86 from lung cancer.

I’m sure you are captivated by this spectacular work.
Keep this meditative and calm mind until next week.
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And a great video at the end of the article, for those who want to discover more…

Previous articles:

• Sorolla
• Andy Warhol
• Garnier Palace
• Louvre Museum
• Louvre - Paintings
• Versailles

 
Have a wonderful week!
 
Love & Joy,
L.