Home / Artworks / Water Lilies
Water Lilies
Claude Monet, 1906
Claude Monet bought his house in Giverny in 1890 and, three years later, began making a water garden there. That pond became his main subject for about the next 25 years. The Art Institute of Chicago counts around 250 paintings in the water lily series.
This one belongs to a group made between 1903 and 1908. The nearly square canvas has no horizon. The painter focuses on the surface of the water, where clusters of lilies at lower left and upper right frame a path of open water that reflects trees and clouds. Technical examination at the museum shows he changed the painting many times as he worked.
Monet called the series an obsession. Later he made huge, almost abstract versions for the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, but this 1906 painting sits in the middle of that journey, at about 90 by 94 centimetres.
From the museum record
| Artist | Claude Monet |
|---|---|
| Date | 1906 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Size | 89.9 × 94.1 cm (35 3/8 × 37 1/16 in.) |
| Museum | The Art Institute of Chicago |
| Credit line | Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection |
| Accession number | 1933.1157 |
| Licence | Public domain (CC0) |
Source: The Art Institute of Chicago collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
