Water Lilies 1919

Claude Monet made this ‘Water Lilies’ painting with oil on canvas, in no fixed year! Look at how Monet has created the painting surface, and how the lilies, light, and water come into being through shifting layers of color. You can see the push and pull of the brush marks, the adjustments and changes that create this shimmering world. I bet Monet was wrestling with the light, trying to catch it just right, building the painting through trial, error, and intuition. I imagine him thinking about other painters, about Turner’s light, or the Barbizon school, maybe even Japanese prints. In his own way, he captures something new, a feeling of being immersed in light and color. The thick texture makes you want to dive in. Painters are in constant conversation, aren’t they? Taking cues, breaking rules, and always pushing to see the world, and make the world, in new ways.